High white blood cell count: What should I know?

My mother is battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma and just finished her third round of chemo.

The good news is that her lymph nodes actually shrank after the first session, and the ultrasound results look promising.

Of course, life rarely hands you a win without a catch, and she’s struggling significantly with the side effects. About five days after treatment, her white blood cell count drops, and she starts feeling like she’s coming down with a brutal flu—muscle aches, fever, the whole works.

We thought we had things under control, but then she caught a standard virus a few days ago and ended up being admitted to Mayo Clinic. For the last two days, her white cell count has been cratering; it went from 0.9 on the first day to 0.6 today.

Does anyone know what else can be administered besides Amgen? Is a blood transfusion or a white blood cell transfusion even an option at this stage?

Most importantly: is there any kind of natural remedy that could help boost her white blood cell levels?

Also, does anyone recognize the herb known as "house sitter"? I have no idea where one would even find that.

I appreciate any insight you all can offer.

I am truly sorry about your mother 😢

this is a house sitter, they are everywhere along the coast, you can even find them in the floral departments of big-box retailers like Target, did you consider that?

Amgen should boost her white blood cell count quickly; I don't see any need for anything else
if we are strictly looking at an isolated drop in leukocytes rather than other blood cells, then there is absolutely no reason to administer any blood products or derivatives.

Betty Rivera14 said:I am so incredibly sorry about your mother.😢

This thing is just a common house sitter plant; you see them all over the coast, and they even stock them in the floral departments of big-box stores like Target. Was that what you were thinking of?

Thanks, Betty Rivera14.🙂

That’s exactly what I found too—they grow on rooftops and are pretty common around here in Des Moines.

granitebadger25 said:Amgen should bump those white blood cell counts up pretty quickly; I don't anticipate needing anything else beyond that.
If we're strictly looking at an isolated drop in leukocytes—without any other blood cell counts being affected—there's really no reason to administer blood products or derivatives.

On a brighter note, the fever broke this morning, so we're expecting the white cell count to start climbing today.🙂

Thanks for the input.👋

silentrider23 said:Thanks, Betty Rivera14. 🙂

I found that one myself; you can find it all over rooftops and out in the suburbs near Des Moines.

I assume you're asking about its medicinal properties... yeah, that's the plant.

magic said:I assume you're asking about its medicinal properties... and yeah, this is definitely the plant.

True, though I did stumble upon some old recipe online that called it "house guardian," but I'm fairly certain we're talking about the same thing.