Help understanding blood test scores

[Stevelms]

on my complete blood count I show:

Neu% 9.9 which is LOW Normal: 36.--66.0

LY% 86.8 HIGH Normal: 24-44.0

LY# 24. 71 HIGH Normal: 1- 4.6

MO% 2.7 LOW Normal 4-8

I don't understand what these three tests mean. The oncologist says I'm "solid as a rock" and okay.

RBC PLT in the normal range. WBC 29.

How can I be okay when these three tests show I'm out of whack???

Anybody got a clue%

thanks,

stevelms

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

Hi Steve

The primary blood count used to mark CLL progression is your LY#, this is your absolute lymphocyte count... aka ALC. Forget the percents, they matter to your doctor, but not so much.

Once this LY# count goes over 30K then it is an indication that CLL is on a move, HOWEVER, mine went to 42K and plateaued for 3-4 years... then went up to

mid 60s and plateaued...etc...

Surprising the count amount is not so important, I know CLL patients with absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) over 350K, feel fine and work everyday...

This is complex and you won't get it all immediately, but my friend Dr. Susan Leclair, does a great job explaining these things....

patientpower.info/series/as...

~chris

[Stevelms in reply to Cllcanada]

thank you. I really appreciate your prompt response! steve

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi Stevelms,

Chris Cllcanada is right on point, don't follow your WBC or LY%, but use Absolute Lymphocyte Count (in your post it's LY#). Having a LY# count 6x normal is scary, but many of us are OK with a LY# 50x normal, or around 350. These are not normal for people without CLL, but normal for the club you unwillingly joined.

Susan LeClaire's explanations are wonderful and easier to understand than many of our doctors. If you learn best by listening, you should watch all 9 of her videos that explain blood tests in detail. You may need to watch a few and rerun them over days or weeks until they start to make sense.

If you learn best by reading details, I suggest you use the great written posts on this site. If you look at the upper right corner of the page you are using to view this response, you should see this:

Related Posts

Blood test every 3 month, 6 month, or 1 year?

Interpreting blood results

Numbers...

Can someone please...Help me understand what I am looking at ?

As you absorb all of this information you will eventually understand that the WBC & ALC numbers are not used to decide when to treat your CLL, but symptoms and decreasing red blood components are monitored to make certain other problems do not harm you while you endure Watch & Wait.

Good luck & keep asking questions as you get your advanced degree in CLL along with all of us that are one class ahead of you.

Len

[Stevelms in reply to lankisterguy]

Yes, thank you. trying get up to speed, and scrub the internet for any remedies that will cleanse the blood, or shrink the lymph nodes, while remaining serene is a skill I never planned on developing. but it's developing!

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to Stevelms]

Here is an excellent booklet on CLL... just download it... it is accurate and current...

lls.org/sites/default/files...

[lankisterguy Volunteer in reply to Stevelms]

Be careful with general Internet sites that claim to cure cancer, shrinks lymph nodes or cleanse the blood, they are mostly scams. (The same things are used to increase penis size, enlarge breasts and cure baldness).

There are two different daily pills approved by the FDA in 2014 that will shrink lymph nodes and over time will reduce your LY#, and they really work, but they are expensive prescription medications.- Both Chris and I are taking one of them Ibrutinib/Imbruvica and I took the other one Idelalisib/Zydelig for 30 months until June 2015.

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to lankisterguy]

Yes expensive is an understatement...

Idelalisib (Zydelig) is now a combo with rituxan and runs somewhere around $120,000 a year and Imbruvica (ibrutinib) is $98,000 a year

~chris