I've seen mention of people's red and white blood cell counts so I looked at my blood printout. Nothing so helpful as the words 'red' or 'white' of course. Can anyone tell me what I am looking for as they are just a column of abbreviations?
And then, what is 'normal'?
Isn't it typical? About 10 mins after typing the above I had another look at my print out and found WBC and RBC which I imagine stands for White Blood Count and Red Blood Count. So now I've got my figures but still have no idea what is considered 'normal'.
RBC range is 4.5 to 6.00, ,
WBC range is 4 to 11
Haemaglobin range is 130 to 180
Neutrophils range is 1.80 to 7.50
Platelets range is 150 to 400
So as you can see the tolerances are quite broad in some so your normal could be very different from someone else's normal. I posted recently that my white cells went from 6 down to 2 in a fortnight, so 6 was good but obviously 2 not so. Your Haematologist will look at the big picture as well as any area which needs pulling up or pushing down.
I would ask your Hem or Clinical Nurse or GP to talk you through your print out for future reference.
Hope helps a tad.
Chris
Thank you Chris, I've no real ideas what all these blood items mean or do but I do like to know what's going on in my own body even if I can't do anything about it. It is early days for me and no doubt I'll settle down to treating blood tests and medication as normal routine.
It does take some time to come to terms with it all but like you I prefer to have an understanding.
So helpful Chris,
I reckon you could be a haematology nurse with everything you have been through and your new ' lady cells'.
Happy Sunday to you.
Judy X
And a very happy Sunday to you Judy my friend. . My consultant calls me and introduces me to his trainees as 'Dr' Chris as according to him I continue to challenge him with my line and depth of questioning. You gotta do it coz it's your bod. . . X
Thanks Chris.
It is good to know what the levels are even though I don't get a print out.
I don't really know what my levels are as all I get is your blood is fine we don't need to do anything or if I'm more fatigued than normal then haematologist says we could do a venesection. Out of interest I usually ask what they are
I tend to go on the basis she is thr expert and keeps me well.
I just like 'playing' with Excel and making a graph. 
For myself, w PV, Hematocrit is very important too. In the beginning many many years ago it started out near 50 but w phlebotomies & aspirin & lots of water, it seems to stay closer to 45. I was having blackouts when it was at 50. Fear not, tho, you will get the hang of it. It is a process to understanding all this, and you have a good place to learn right here! I mostly kept it to myself when I could for years.... I just found this wonderful place last year.
As far as I'm concerned, this early on, I'm finding all the info fascinating and a bit academic as, so far, I don't really have any apparent problems. But it is good to know what's what should the time come when the information is important to understanding.
Will see if I can find Hematocrit on my print out - even though I have no idea what it is or means. 
Hi ChrisAnnSen,
Hematocrit shows as HCT on the blood print out and it indicates the thickness of the blood. My heam likes mine to be under .45 if it's above this I have a venesection. Many members on the forum know when they need a venesection as they get headaches and feel more tired than usual.
Judy x
Thank you Judy - I've found mine and it's .423 so it looks like so far I am OK.
Yes, that's good. 😊
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