HELP

[lovenursing100]

hello everyone. this is the first time i ask here, because I love the site. I wanted to ask this:

i have a pt that underwent colostomy and has low hgb, hct, rbc, and also low lymphocytes. i understand the loss of blood is responsable for the first 3 , and i know what my nursing interventions would be for those, but im a little loss on the lymphocytes. I dont know what can i put down in my paper for it. it is only 19.3, neutrophils are 71. so them beoing on the high range i undrestand the why, but dont know the specifics of what to do about the neutrophils. thanks for the time to read or answer

[OttawaRPN]

Has the patient been undergoing chemotherapy?

[lovenursing100]

she had stomach cancer, but i dont know of other txs before getting to th hospital. i only saw the patient one day and she is not on any.

[Sarah010101]

woee.. did we have the same patient today? ha ha ha

[lovenursing100]

why sarah????????????

[Sarah010101]

Because I had a patient today who underwent a colostomy post op day 5.. had complications..., Hgb, Hct, RBC were down, Lymphocytes were low.. (but was undergoing chemo for recal cancer that had met.),.. and neutophils were up.. however I learned today that this can result from some forms of cancers. Now when i think elevated neutrophil I think of infection.. and the body pouring out immature WBCs... but apparently high neutrophil count is common with cancer. The RN didnt have a good reason for it but she said it had to do with inflammation (they are the hallmark of acute inflammation)... and they go through a process called chemotaxis .. to migrate to infection site. For what to do about it?... like nursing interventions?... I would think treat underlying cause.. so infection...

--> maybe an experienced nurse could help answer these questions?... Im only in my 4th semester but i thought i would share what i knew :)

[resumecpr]

How about inflammatory response from the surgery?