Re: Oncologist visits

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy,

Wow Kathy, no I don't think this is normal. Are you talking about

seeing your doctor or having blood tests or both? Some people only

have blood tests when they see their doctor but others go for blood

work independently of the doctor's visit.

If you're going so infrequently for blood tests, how do they know your

potassium is bottoming out so often? Are they testing your potassium

alone? Who's monitoring your electrolytes and how often? I would

think that in your case, you should be having a full electrolyte panel

done every week at least.

I went for blood every week when I was diagnosed for 2-3 months. Then

I started going every 2 weeks and after a couple of those intervals, I

moved to every 3 weeks then finally 4. After it had been close to a

year, I was going every 6 weeks which is where I am today (4.5 years

later). I wouldn't feel comfortable about waiting more than 6-8 weeks

between blood tests, not just because I want to monitor the white

count but also because I want to make sure my electrolytes are normal,

my Hgb is in a good range, and my kidney and liver function is good.

I can't imagine a doctor diagnosing a patient, giving them Gleevec and

saying come back in a month! That's crazy. Your counts could have

crashed in that time and you wouldn't have even known it.

Take care,

Tracey

>

> Hi the first time I saw my Oncologist was in Sept. She put me on 400

mg

> Gleevec, I saw her a month later and White cells went from 50,000 to

> 9000. I was to see her again 6 wks later and they were 6000. When

I

> saw her in February everything was still holding in the normal

range,

> so I don't see her again until the end of May. Is this considered

> normal time frames to see an Oncologist? Kathy

>