My husband was diagnosed with HCL in 2015. He’s been in remission for five years. He has 3 monthly blood tests and all has been well until his latest blood test which showed all blood levels had gone down. Is it a coincidence that he had his second vaccine 3 weeks before?
He had a bone marrow biopsy today to see if the HCL is back, but has anyone else experienced anything similar? There seems to be no information out there regarding the vaccine and how/if it affects blood counts.
Hi @SEP welcome to our forum, a very good question and your husbands medical team might be the ones for it, but I expect there has not been any/enough research into this.
If you would like to talk to someone you can contact the Support Services Team on 0808 2080 888 (Mondays: 10am-7pm, Tuesdays-Fridays: 10am-4pm, Saturday, Sundays and Bank Holidays: 10am-1pm) or via email at support@bloodcancer.org.uk
Please let us know how his bone marrow biopsy results go.
How are you both doing?
Hi @SEP and welcome to the forum! I’m sorry but I can’t help with the questions around vaccine and blood counts. As @Erica says, the support line might be a good starting point.
I hope the bone marrow biopsy went well and your husband is doing ok. How are you feeling about everything?
Please keep us updated X
Hi @SEP. I also have HCL, first diagnosed in 2012. My blood parameters were also slightly unusual when I had a blood test and ‘phone consultation a few weeks ago. My consultant wondered whether the changes could be either because of the COVID vaccine or because of recent major surgery (unrelated to my HCL). His decision was to call me for a face-to-face meeting two months later and to review blood test results then. (The follow-up meeting is yet to happen, but is due in mid-July).
Hi @Mike53, this is very interesting, there are so many unknowns.
It’s great to hear from you, how have you been over the last months with lockdowns?
Hi Erica and @SEP. Thanks, Erica, for asking after me. I have been OK physically and mentally with my HCL, and remain fairly calm and philosophical about the current pandemic and restrictions. I had an unexpected spell in hospital in March - nothing to do with HCL or COVID, but emergency surgery, so have gradually been regaining strength and weight.
For @SEP, my consultant noted that a “new IgG paraprotein has appeared”, and that this may be “a reactive post-operative or perhaps related to the coronavirus vaccination”.
Hi @Mike53, take lots of special care of yourself and have the odd treat because I think emergency surgery really takes it out of you emotionally, physically and practically and perhaps it will take you a long time to build back up.
Please do keep posting.
@SEP a warm welcome to the forum. Thank you for posting.
I do hope your husband’s bone marrow biopsy last week went ok?
It’s totally understandable you have questions around this. May I ask if your husband has has spoken to a member of his clinical team such as his consultant about his recent blood results and his concern that these may be a result of having his Covid vaccination? If not, we’d really encourage him to get in touch with them to talk this through, as soon as he can, as they’d be best placed to offer guidance around this in the context of his individual circumstances and medical history.
In case it’s helpful at all for you both, this page of our website has information around the covid vaccines for people with blood cancer - Covid Vaccine and Blood Cancer.
As you may both know, there are processes in place to monitor safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, on an ongoing basis. This page discusses how the safety and efficacy of the vaccines are being monitored for people with blood cancer, and talks of the different research projects going on around this.
It also explains that the MHRA are requesting that any suspected side effects of the vaccine are reported here - https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
Hearing from patients and families about their experiences after receiving the vaccine, their experience reporting to the Yellow Card Scheme and their conversations with their healthcare professionals allows us to gain a wider understanding about the vaccine.
As more people have the vaccine, we will learn more about how effective it is for people with blood cancer, and will keep updating our information. If there is anything we can help and support you or your husband with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team on 0808 2080 888, or send us an email at support@bloodcancer.org.uk.