I was told last week I was to have my thyroid bloods taken and a nurse came to my house so yesterday I Phoned and asked for the results and was told by the receptionist they were abnormal and tragic lighted to Amber and another test was needed ,but no mention of when it should be done .
Today the same receptionist phoned back and says the blood test wasn't for my thyroid but for a full blood test and the only things highlighted was the white blood count at 15 and the lymphocytes count at 9.96
This is of course a slight rise since December .I'm wondering if that's the test I was told to have by the hematology consultant in December and again by a different consultant in February .do they check the leukaemia bloods in with the usual full blood draw?
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pet-lamb
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Yes the full blood count always looks at your WBC and 15 isn’t terribly high. A normal range is usually between 4,000 and 11,000 per microliter of blood. No reason for undue concern there.
Hi Neil how are you doing I hope your treatment went well ?
I was told by the receptionist that my blood results were abnormal and highlighted to or at ? Amber so in my mind it was like traffic lights green Amber red ,sorry for the confusion caused .
at least on my facilities cbc/diff test if a reading is even .1 tenth over or under it's flagged. the techs and or assistants don't really understand they just read what they see
It's a good analogy and can be used in business reporting. Amber would mean a warning of something of possible concern and red something potentially dangerous.
I just get black stars on my monochrome blood test results and it used to be that I had plenty of unwanted stars. Nowadays I have very few. Thanks for asking.
I see what you mean now pet-lamb but am non the wiser as to why a WBC of 15 would warrant any alarm to ‘amber alert?’ Not that it’s an expression I’ve heard of in this context.
I have Cll chronic lymphocytic leukaemia new dawn it was diagnosed in November last year but my white blood count and lymphocytes count has been raised since 2017 .
I suspect that's why my results raised some concerns apparently the results were expected there not worried just flagging them .
Oh I appreciate that pet-lamb and when we have a FBC, all ‘abnormal’ levels outside of the norm are highlighted with an asterisk usually. I was just curious as to why they would use an expression of amber and red alert which seems illustrative of levels much much higher than yours.
If you’ve had raised levels since 2017 and your WBC is still only 15, you’re doing really well and that’s a very indolent presentation.
Thanks newdawn it's a relief to me when people say it's indolent .it is rising but not too fast .
I'm 2017 it was only 2 above the reference range for my area .
I haven't seen the results yet so don't know if Amber is written in it .But that's what the receptionist told me I'll know more when the I get a copy myself x
It sounds like any result that is even slightly out of range might be highlighted Amber. My lab uses H and L for high and low. My numbers are also flagged if they are even .1 over or under the established in range for that lab.
Are you able to get copies of all of your labs (a guaranteed right in the US). My doctors know to hand me a copy as they walk into the room. The first thing I do is scan for highs and lows. I have a pretty good sense, after years of being at this, of when a H or L is not significant or even possibly lab error and when I need to ask about it.
It seems that the receptionist should not be commenting on your labs. She has raised red flags in your mind for no reason. A CBC (complete blood count) is part of every appointment with my doctor, and the usual test used for monitoring, once a diagnosis of CLL has been confirmed by a Flow Cytometry test. He looks especially for changes in the HGB (hemoglobin), platelets, absolute lymphocytes and absolute neutrophils.
It is usual, with a diagnosis of CLL, to have an ALC that is high. The question is how high, and more importantly, how much higher than your last test. I hope that you can get copies of your labs so that you can start tracking numbers yourself!
I asked the receptionist to tell me the results over the phone and I'm waiting for them to be posted to me now .
My other results from diagnosis onwards are on here somewhere I know there's a slight rise in both white blood cells and lymphocytes but haven't checked them with my other saved reports yet .
Yes it did worry me because I was originally told they where taking bloods for my annual thyroid function test as I have autoimmune hashimoto disease and under active thyroid disease. So when I was told the lab results were Amber flagged I did worry I have thyroid modules and a cyst so thought oh no does this mean another cancer.
Silly really but I've just had the all clear for suspected breast cancer so I feel as though I'm on a emotional roller coaster just now .
The name is because people don't realize that if you don't lock your post it, and any replies to it, can end up on google, social media, etc. your information is no longer private, and neither is phat of anyone who answers you. That's fine for general information, but Unlocked posts often stop me from replying with any personal information that might be supportive.
I don't think that your response was silly at all. These are scary times. Having someone call you about an amber alert on your labs who clearly doesn't understand the significance of the numbers in your specific case would be scary for anyone still learning about their CLL.
They’re not clever sometimes - I asked a receptionist for my blood test results and she wouldn’t give them to me because they were “abnormal”. I tried telling her I’d be amazed if they weren’t but she wasn’t having any. Left me worrying for over a week that they’d found something else other than raised lymphocytes (they hadn’t). Sometimes I think they’re so busy they don’t engage brain before opening mouth..... Keep safe.
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