Suggestions from our Doctors:

• Avoid Excessive sunlight and UV light exposure - No sunbathing.
• Avoid chlorinated water for both swimming and drinking.  Avoid bathing in chlorinated water if possible.
• Avoid Alcohol.
• Avoid Caffeine or at least reduce your intake.
• Avoid Immune System altering agents to include Vitamin C, Ginseng, Echinacia, Noni or Morinda.
• Avoid stresses: Physical, Chemical and Emotional.  We have seen many links from Stress to low platelets.
• Avoid blood thinning agents.  Aspirin products should be taken cautiously. 

Please consult your doctor before starting or changing any medicine or therapy.

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Low blood cell counts: Side effect of cancer treatment

Understand the significance of low blood cell counts, what causes them, how they're measured, how they're treated and how to cope.

Your doctor may monitor your blood cell counts carefully during your cancer treatment. There's a good reason you're having your blood drawn so often — low blood cell counts put you at risk of dangerous complications. Find out what your doctor is looking for and why it's so important to be vigilant for low blood cell counts. Know what you should be on the look out for, too.

What's measured in a blood cell count?

When your doctor looks at your blood cell counts, he or she is looking at your levels of:

• White blood cells. These cells help your body fight infection. A low white blood cell count (leukopenia) can lead to infection, a dangerous and sometimes deadly complication of cancer treatment.
• Red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body. Your red blood cells' ability to carry oxygen is measured by the amount of hemoglobin in your blood. If your level of hemoglobin is low, you're anemic and your body works much harder to supply oxygen to your tissues. This can make you feel fatigued and short of breath.
• Platelets. Platelets help your blood clot. A low platelet count (thrombocytopenia) means your body can't stop itself from bleeding, which could lead to dangerous blood loss.

If you're undergoing certain cancer treatments that could cause low blood cell counts, your doctor will likely monitor your blood cell counts regularly using a test called a complete blood count (CBC). Low blood cell counts are detected by examining a blood sample taken from a vein in your arm.

What causes low blood cell counts?

Cancer-related causes of low blood cell counts include:

• Chemotherapy. Certain chemotherapy drugs can damage your bone marrow — the spongy material found in your bones. Your bone marrow makes blood cells. When it's damaged, your bone marrow doesn't produce as many blood cells and your blood counts drop. Your doctor can tell you whether your specific chemotherapy treatment and dose will put you at risk of low blood cell counts.
• Radiation therapy. If you receive radiation therapy to large areas of your body and especially to the large bones that contain the most bone marrow, such as your pelvis, legs and torso, you might experience low levels of red and white blood cells. Radiation therapy is less likely to have a significant effect on your platelet count. Radiation combined with chemotherapy increases your risk of low blood cell counts.
• Cancers of the blood and bone marrow. Blood and bone marrow cancers, such as leukemia, attack different parts of your bone marrow. The cancerous cells can displace other cells in your bone marrow, making it difficult for your bone marrow to produce the blood cells your body needs.
• Cancers that spread (metastasize). Cancer cells that break off from a tumor can spread to other parts of your body, including your bone marrow. Some examples of cancers that could spread to your bone marrow include breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer. This is an unusual cause of low blood counts.

***  From the Mayoclinic.com Website