Lab Tests...what are they, how are they done, what do they mean?

[Cllcanada]

Lab Tests Online is an excellent resource for all your lab test questions...

UK website labtestsonline.org.uk/

Non commercial, peer reviewed, patient focused...

Also the USA website testing.com/

~chris

Addendum by Admin: Why white blood counts can be high or low. Could a high count be blood cancer, in particular Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)?

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Lab test links updated 31st May 2024

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator]

Thanks for the multi-regional links Chris!

My haematologist occasionally drops extra blood test codes in with my regular ones without explaining what they are for and this site has helped me to decipher the codes and hence the purpose of tests. Useful if you want to know how you are travelling but could perhaps be a bit confronting if you'd rather just leave this to the medicos. After finding out I could have been diagnosed with SLL/CLL several years earlier if I'd asked for a copy of my blood test results and followed up an anomalous reading, I now make sure I get a copy of ALL my test results and ask my doctor or haematologist what the implications are if anything is outside the normal range or significantly different from my normal levels.

There are blood test tracking spreadsheet templates available here:

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Added, with thanks to SeymourB in December 2022: What are atypical, reactive, abnormal or variant lymphocytes?

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo....

Neil

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

I'm of the school of thought, that I don't need anything more to worry about, so blood counts are totally off my radar, I figure my doctors will let me know if I have ITP, neutropenia, or rapidly rising lymphocytes, LDH and so on...

So far it has been a good strategy for me, but everyone is different...

Honestly, I don't care about labs, I care about how I feel...

~chris

[banrambo in reply to Cllcanada]

I used to be as trusting. Then I discovered my SLL/CLL could have been diagnosed in 2010 or earlier. The good thing? Three years at least of W&W went by without my worrying. I thank God it wasn't breast cancer!

[HAIRBEAR_UK Founder Admin]

Information videos from patent power

patientpower.info/video/und... Information videos by Dr Susan Leclair, chancellor professor in the department of medical laboratory science at the University of Massachusetts:

Understanding Your CLL Blood Tests: Immunoglobulin, Complete Blood Counts, Platelets and More

youtube.com/watch?v=bfcYedv...(Not working as expected?)

Strategies for Understanding Your CLL Blood Tests and Engaging with Your Physician

youtube.com/watch?v=jQvPHWX...(Not working as expected?)

Blood Tests 101: Understanding the Acronyms

youtube.com/watch?v=TV-pYAN...(Not working as expected?)

Dr. Susan Leclair Explains Lymphocyte Doubling Time

youtube.com/watch?v=xQ5_bVv...(Not working as expected?)