Query re Blood Tests

[MichaelJH]

I posted this on another HU forum but had no replies so am trying here.

A friend recently died less than three weeks after diagnosis of lymph cancer (apologies if on wrong site). The thing that puzzles me is that he had surgery for a hernia (done privately) two weeks before surgery. When I has a stymp revision early this year I had a raft of blood tests including FBC and clotting. Should not these (if done) picked up something was awry?

All the best to all members!

[AussieNeil Administrator]

It's a bit hard to comment with the little information you have provided on why your friend died. Lymphoma can invade the bone marrow, reducing blood cell production. Some blood cells don't last long and need frequent replacement. Platelets only last 10 days. If the bone marrow stops making platelets, if an internal bleed happens, the person can die from lack of blood. Organs can fail due to lack of oxygen. Another way lymphoma can cause sudden death, is when the person is unable to make white blood cells to fight infections. Also, serious anaemia can cause organ death, but that takes much longer. Finally, CLL can cause rapid onset of anaemia or thrombocytopenia (low platelets) because there is a higher risk of autoimmune conditions AIHA (Autoimmune Haemolytic Anaemia) or ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytic Purpura) respectively.

Neil

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi MichaelJH,

I will try to add to AussieNeil 's excellent answer.

There are many types of blood and lymph cancers, our group focuses on CLL Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia that grows slowly and usually gives us time to respond to dangerous changes in our body, blood and bone marrow.

Here are lists of some of the others, including some that can quickly be fatal:

lls.org/facts-and-statistic...

webmd.com/cancer/lymphoma/t...

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And to answer your question about blood tests, there are some tests that can identify leukemias in the blood. But many of the lymphomas are not detected by blood tests, and only identified when one or more lymph nodes begin to swell abnormally. (Note that the spleen, tonsils and adenoids are essentially lymph nodes).

See: lls.org/lymphoma/non-hodgki...

Len

[SofiaDeo]

If the cancer was an acute cancer, things can happen very fast. Without seeing the actual tests done before your friends surgery, it would be impossible to say if there actually were clues to some other illness. And if there was an infection somewhere in there during all this, either that or some reaction to medication in addition to things like internal bleed, organ failure, etc. could have been the kicker that actually threw things over the edge. Sometimes multiple things happen at the same time, and it can be difficult to adjust them all, or for someone's body to deal with them.

Distraught family often mishears/misremembers exactly what the doctors say, when we are in a state of shock, there may be some element of that in what your heard.