Kukulaka: Blood Results Explained

[Guest guest]

Kukulaka:

I think the " black line square " under the WBC is simply the *highlighted*

(abnormal RBC result) that _appears_ to be blackened out. The ORIGINAL of

the report is undoubtedly perfectly clear, and will provide you with the RBC

number.

I know when I saw my hem-onc doc in December, he pulled out a copy of my

blood work out of my chart, and he said: " Boy, I love getting lab reports

from the ABC Labs, because everything on the reports is normal! " He then

showed how my report, faxed to him from the lab had, " apparently all normal "

CBC results.

Because all of my out-of-range CBC results were " blackened out " . Not

deliberately blacked out, mind you. Not " censored. " It's just that when the

reports are faxed, that highlighted line across all abnormal results becomes

one long black line, obscuring each out-of-normal-range result. So, to find

out what's going on, we just need to get the original reports to read any

abnormal results.

I'm not a " medical professional, " just a medical AMATEUR, as you undoubtedly

know by now! BUT! I think I can provide you with some reassurance, here.

First of all, based on the results you have, I think you'll have NO PROBLEM

undergoing myo. in the near future.

A basic rule in hematology is that the first tests to become abnormal will be

the last to RETURN to normal. I think rule this may hold true with your

results.

Your hemoglobin and hematocrit, while in the normal range, are now just

barely squeaking in as normal--I can almost guess that your RBC, while

abnormal is not " abnormally abnormal. " My guess is that it's just a tad under

the norm. RBC's are made so slowly. Based on what you've written, sounds

like things are better, and continuing to improve--just not perfect--yet.

The comment of your doctor (who only gave you a CBC) probably derives from

the fact that RBC production requires iron stores in the bone marrow. I

presume your RBC continues to lag a bit behind.

Iron stores can be better determined by tests that TxGenes indicated,

specifically,

tests like:

-Serum Iron

-Serum Ferritin and

-Total Iron Binding Capacity.

Iron in the body is incorporated into hemoglobin. It's good that your

hemoglobin is now beginning to be in the normal range. It used to be that

hematocrit was the value that clinical labs thought was so important in

anemia. Now hemoglobin is considered most important, because hemoglobin

reflects the ability of the body to provide proper oxygenation. Your hgb is

normal, but as I mentioned, on the low end of normal.

You may have been somewhat dehydrated and low in potassium, but with your

history of ID Anemia, I don't think it would be medically possible for you to

have suddenly increased RBC. I mean, normally the RBC mass is 40-50% of your

blood, the other 60% is plasma (which is mostly water). So, even with some

dehydration, your ratio is not going to be that significantly altered to

reflect changes in RBC.

So what's the upshot of all this, in the opinion of Dr. Roma, MD =Medical

Dilettante? You look great, kid.

For your own peace of mind, get that RBC number. But things are looking

better, I assume it will just take a while to FEEL better. Sure sounds to me

like you can proceed with the myo!

-Roma

> Roma, I asked for a copy of my blood work to be faxed to me so I could give

> it to my RE in Louisville. Underneith the white blood count (5.3), there's

> a black line square that looks scribbled in with a (>) to before it. My

> hemoglobin was 11.8, my hemocrit was 34, platelets was 315. Everything else

> fell into the normal range. I read the RBC was directly linked to the

> homoglobin count. The ER said I looked a little dehydrated and low on

> potassium by my blood work 2 months ago. I read dehydration can show up as

> a increased RBC. My doc said I had abnsolutly no iron stores but he did not

> do any other tests than a CBC. Could he be looking at my RBC? If my RBC is

> abnormal in a dangerous way, why wasn't I called back in, why was it

> censored at all? Is this legal? I'm losing a lot of blood with large clots,

> can this really pull my RBC down while my hemoglobin goes up? I told my doc

> that I wanted my reslts for my RE so I didn't have to repeat this test

> again. He said no problem, they're your results. Then while comparing my

> results to referance ranges online, I notice no RBC count and this black

> box where the RBC should be. How dangerous is this? Could this stop my myo

> that I hope will be soon. I have to stop this bleeding. I bleed heavy fo

> say 8 days but 1 week before and after, I spot and lose clots. There's only

> about 1 week during my cycle that I'm not losing some sort of blood. The ER

> doc was raving saying my doc wasn't keeping up with this ans scheduling

> appointments too far from another. Last period, I had the numbness.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Roma for your excellant reply. My doc has a problem hiding test results

from me. He hid the size of my gall stones from me, refusing to tell me,

covering up the lab report with his hand. I knew the stones were big because I

looked at the numbers when they did the ultrasound. He said I didn't have stones

for a long time. After he said that I was right in telling him how much pain I

was in. He had said it was all in my head. For real fun, mix gall stones and

fibroids. And have your gallbladder attacks with your heavy bleeding. This went

on for years. I don't want my medical information filtered in any way. He'll

send my info to another doc but doesn't want to give me my results. He knows

I'll look up everything on the computer. My cousin was his patient. They were

doing lots of tests with no ideal what was wrong with her. I ran across a

disorder online that matched her symtoms. The doc didn't like it, said it was

wrong. But it wasn't, I was right. He's been in trouble for running too many

tests (same ones over and over) and passing out too many pills. So I need a new

doc. So with his history, you can see while I'm nervous about having surgery

delayed. I fired a worse doc before I got this one! I've learned not to trust

docs around here. I'm just trying to get rid of this fibroid and heal up. I'm

hoping my blood counts will go up faster after a myo because I won't be bleeding

as much. It's taken me 6 months to get in the low normal range. I do feel

better. Before I was so tired, I didn't do much of anything. You did an

excellant job of explaining how the blood works and why my RBC may be the last

to recover. You did an excellant job explaning everything. I believe that

knowledge is power. I do my saline sono Wednesday in Louisville. I've heard some

say that it's painful and some say it isn't. Since I'm losing clots, I'm worried

that they'll break off a large clot inside and I'll have a flood. It would make

it a fun 2 hour drive home. But I should know what kind of fibroid that I have.

Thanks Roma for your reply. Bless you Roma!

ARomaWithAView@... wrote:

I think the " black line square " under the WBC is simply the *highlighted*

(abnormal RBC result) that _appears_ to be blackened out. The ORIGINAL of

the report is undoubtedly perfectly clear, and will provide you with the RBC

number.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Roma for your excellant reply. My doc has a problem hiding test results

from me. He hid the size of my gall stones from me, refusing to tell me,

covering up the lab report with his hand. I knew the stones were big because I

looked at the numbers when they did the ultrasound. He said I didn't have stones

for a long time. After he said that I was right in telling him how much pain I

was in. He had said it was all in my head. For real fun, mix gall stones and

fibroids. And have your gallbladder attacks with your heavy bleeding. This went

on for years. I don't want my medical information filtered in any way. He'll

send my info to another doc but doesn't want to give me my results. He knows

I'll look up everything on the computer. My cousin was his patient. They were

doing lots of tests with no ideal what was wrong with her. I ran across a

disorder online that matched her symtoms. The doc didn't like it, said it was

wrong. But it wasn't, I was right. He's been in trouble for running too many

tests (same ones over and over) and passing out too many pills. So I need a new

doc. So with his history, you can see while I'm nervous about having surgery

delayed. I fired a worse doc before I got this one! I've learned not to trust

docs around here. I'm just trying to get rid of this fibroid and heal up. I'm

hoping my blood counts will go up faster after a myo because I won't be bleeding

as much. It's taken me 6 months to get in the low normal range. I do feel

better. Before I was so tired, I didn't do much of anything. You did an

excellant job of explaining how the blood works and why my RBC may be the last

to recover. You did an excellant job explaning everything. I believe that

knowledge is power. I do my saline sono Wednesday in Louisville. I've heard some

say that it's painful and some say it isn't. Since I'm losing clots, I'm worried

that they'll break off a large clot inside and I'll have a flood. It would make

it a fun 2 hour drive home. But I should know what kind of fibroid that I have.

Thanks Roma for your reply. Bless you Roma!

ARomaWithAView@... wrote:

I think the " black line square " under the WBC is simply the *highlighted*

(abnormal RBC result) that _appears_ to be blackened out. The ORIGINAL of

the report is undoubtedly perfectly clear, and will provide you with the RBC

number.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Roma for your excellant reply. My doc has a problem hiding test results

from me. He hid the size of my gall stones from me, refusing to tell me,

covering up the lab report with his hand. I knew the stones were big because I

looked at the numbers when they did the ultrasound. He said I didn't have stones

for a long time. After he said that I was right in telling him how much pain I

was in. He had said it was all in my head. For real fun, mix gall stones and

fibroids. And have your gallbladder attacks with your heavy bleeding. This went

on for years. I don't want my medical information filtered in any way. He'll

send my info to another doc but doesn't want to give me my results. He knows

I'll look up everything on the computer. My cousin was his patient. They were

doing lots of tests with no ideal what was wrong with her. I ran across a

disorder online that matched her symtoms. The doc didn't like it, said it was

wrong. But it wasn't, I was right. He's been in trouble for running too many

tests (same ones over and over) and passing out too many pills. So I need a new

doc. So with his history, you can see while I'm nervous about having surgery

delayed. I fired a worse doc before I got this one! I've learned not to trust

docs around here. I'm just trying to get rid of this fibroid and heal up. I'm

hoping my blood counts will go up faster after a myo because I won't be bleeding

as much. It's taken me 6 months to get in the low normal range. I do feel

better. Before I was so tired, I didn't do much of anything. You did an

excellant job of explaining how the blood works and why my RBC may be the last

to recover. You did an excellant job explaning everything. I believe that

knowledge is power. I do my saline sono Wednesday in Louisville. I've heard some

say that it's painful and some say it isn't. Since I'm losing clots, I'm worried

that they'll break off a large clot inside and I'll have a flood. It would make

it a fun 2 hour drive home. But I should know what kind of fibroid that I have.

Thanks Roma for your reply. Bless you Roma!

ARomaWithAView@... wrote:

I think the " black line square " under the WBC is simply the *highlighted*

(abnormal RBC result) that _appears_ to be blackened out. The ORIGINAL of

the report is undoubtedly perfectly clear, and will provide you with the RBC

number.