Q: I am 33 yrs old Male who was diagnosed for Hodghkins Disease in 1997. I was given 6 shots of Chemotheraphy and the disease regressed. Again in 2001 the Disease Relapsed and I was given 4 shots of Chemotheraphy. In Feb 2003 I complained of Fever and weight loss. It was found that my WBC count had gone low. A CT scan was done and it was normal. A Bone marrow test was done and it revealed Uninvolved marrow. The count came back to normal in a months time. In October I had mouth ulcers (large) and tests revealed that my WBC count had gone low. I am now recovering. What I want to know is why does my WBC count keep on coming low and then recovering back. I do not have HIV. Request your reply.

A:You have not mentioned details of your Hb, TLC, DLC, and platelets. It appears that you may be having one of the long term toxicity caused by chemotherapy to your bone marrow. One of them is called MDS. We need to do your bone marrow aspiration, biopsy and cytogenetics/immunophenotyping.