20 Year Old Female, Very Scared About Possible Leukemia Posted: 08-23-05 11:21am
Hey there every1, jus registered today
been tryin to look for sum advice on the
net. Hope every1s doin ok.
Basically im 20 and last december I
started feelin poorly. Muscle aches,
bones really ached, jus flu like symptoms
was told it was post viral (i didnt think
so) had numerous other symptoms since.
But lately my muscles and bone pain has
been horrible. My joints are crackin and
my wrist inparticular cracks all the time
its horrible. If I jump up n down its
almost as if I can feel my bones movin and
grinding. Occasional red dots below my
skin
had a few blood tests since then, and
always my white blood cell count has been
low but I seem to be the only one noticing
this occurance? Most recent one about 2
months ago was 2.5 which I think is low
from wot ive read? Anyways doc said to
come back in december for repeat blood
test but hes jus diagnosed me with
fibromylagia. I dnt think it is this from
reading up about it. And after lookin at
signs n symptoms for leukemia im slightly
worried to say the least.
Sorry, also forgot to add that wen first
felt ill last december I had lumps come up
under my arms, lymph nodes which went
down, then came up again. Esr has been
raised very high at 119, then back down to
19, then raised again. As far as im aware
red blood counts not abnormal and other
other one was my thyroid which they tested
me for and after a physical examination
the doc said my neck felt a bit lumpy and
bumpy. Recently had a neck ultrasound and
they sais they couldnt see anythin
suspicious althought last couple of days I
felt as though the ones in my groin area
were swollen. Hense the docs appointment
this friday.
Is there a specific blood test I can
request at my local gp that can put my
mind at ease I dnt have it., or one that
would tell me if I did.
Any advice would be really really
appreciated. Im tryin not to worry but
easier said than done.
Thanks
xx
|
ritalindanger
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Posts: 18
Ritalin ? Posted: 08-20-06 22:13pm
Have you ever taken ritalin or a ritalin
type drug? Is so, for how long?
|
kashishian
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 10-18-06 19:52pm
If you want to rule out leukemia, you want
to undergo a bone marrow aspiration.
(warning, they are painful).
Leukemia is defined by the presence of
greater then xxx number of blasts in the
bone marrow. Basically, a blast is a
bone marrow cell that has not matured.
(sorry, I cannot recall of the top of my
head what the exact number of blasts that
are normal and what is defined as
abnormal).
The doctor should also order cytogenetics
(where they look at the chromosomes to see
if there are any mutations). The
philadephia chromosome (where chromosome 9
and chromosome 22) swap arms is the
hallmark of a type of leukemia called
chronic myelogenous leukemia.
If you've just had an infection then your
lymphocytes might still be high or active.
That could explain why you have lumps in
your lymph regions.
The esr is the rate at which red blood
cells sedment. I think it is used to
indicate inflammation, but its not a
specific indicator of anything.
I do not understand why you think you
might have leukemia. There are many other
diseases of the blood and bone marrow.
Your blood counts are not abnormally high
or that low. (having said that, don't let
up until you find out exactly what is
wrong).
