View Full Version : Blood test results - thought i was ok but now i'm not
livethelife
05-11-13, 18:57
I have been posting on here the last couple of days about my fears about bone cancer. i had blood work done last Friday - got the call back to see the doctor but receptionist told me that the only issue was that my vit d was low. ok no problem. i saw her and she told me to start taking 2000 iu of vitamin d.
i asked her straight out if she thought i had bone cancer. she said that the blood work wasn't showing anything strange that indicated that. wbc/rbc etc all normal. kidney function is normal. also she asked me if my pain (I have a spot in my spine that hurts and another near my collarbone) is constant or if it comes and goes - i told her that it comes and goes - she indicated that this was a good sign and said that bone cancer pain just gets worse and worse and doesn't typically let up much.
all good. so why am i freaking out again. well....the more i looked at the results the more i didn't like the look of my c reactive protein results. i remembered reading something about crp and multiple myeloma - that it is elevated when you have mm. so my crp is 3.97 and the reference range is
0-8. so i am right in the middle but i think this is higher than what she normally sees. she said it is likely because I have had a couple of colds lately - and of course i'm thinking well yeah the reason i have had a couple of colds is because i have cancer!!
so i am back on the treadmill again - i guess i will need to book another appt with her - maybe get her to do some more extensive blood work or i may just try to put it behind me, bearing in mind i am in the middle of the reference range and see how i feel.
now i am confused and frustrated again. that was the shortest lived celebration i have ever had. it only lasted a couple of hours and now i am back worrying again.
:((
Your CRP is within normal ranges...I am not sure why you are concerned by this? So it is higher than what she normally sees...the fact is it remains within normal ranges!
High CRP is not a big deal anyway, unless it is accompanied by numerous other irregular blood results and symptoms. An elevated CRP is basically indicative of an infection of some kind, often bacterial but can be viral too (hence, your history of a cold) I saw numerous high CRP results in the range of the hundreds when I was nursing, and these were kids with chest infections and urine infections and suchlike....highly treatable and not serious.
You do not have cancer. You are too well haematologically for that at least! No amount of tests will reassure you I imagine, as after the next tests, will you then find something else to doubt hun? x
I think personally you have just described in a few paragraphs the process that keeps people with HA trapped in a cycle of anxiety and despair.
You had an anxiety - you sought tests - the tests and Dr said you were fine - you were happy - you questioned them - you got anxious - you seek more tests ------->
See where I am going with this? I am not saying it is easy and I struggle too, but you have to lift yourself out of this cycle otherwise you are going to drop into a greater despair and never ending process of testing.
The reality is that no test can ever definitively tell you that you are in full fitness. All that you can do is accept that what you are worried about is exceptionally rare, trust your doctor and start to fogure out how to trust your body.
But most important by far is that you need to get treatment for your anxiety.
---------- Post added at 19:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------
Your CRP is within normal ranges...I am not sure why you are concerned by this? So it is higher than what she normally sees...the fact is it remains within normal ranges!
High CRP is not a big deal anyway, unless it is accompanied by numerous other irregular blood results. An elevated CRP is basically indicative if an infection of some kind, often bacterial but can be viral too (hence, your history of a cold)
You do not have cancer. You are too well haematologically for that at least! No amount of tests will reassure you I imagine, as after the next tests, will you then find something else to doubt hun? x
Hi Debs, I am really interested about this. When you say that 'you are too well haematologically' are you saying that cancer would show abnormalities in a blood test? I had absolutely no idea that this was the case.
Hi Debs, I am really interested about this. When you say that 'you are too well haematologically' are you saying that cancer would show abnormalities in a blood test? I had absolutely no idea that this was the case.
Not all cancers show up in results, but often something is off in blood results. People tend to latch onto blood results being the be all and end all, and this is not the case at all. A good doctor looks at the big picture of what is going on with a patient, and blood work is a small part of this together with symptoms. If the symptoms seem iffy as well as something off with the bloods, then they delve deeper. Put it this way, you may not see entirely normal ranges on all components of a full blood count - platelets, red cells, white cells, etc. Leukaemia/Lyphomas are mostly the main ones that show up in a FBC, but things like tumours will not. You need more extensive testing for that.
Perhaps I worded that too 'flippantly' for you?
Not all cancers show up in results, but often something is off in blood results. People tend to latch onto blood results being the be all and end all, and this is not the case at all. A good doctor looks at the big picture of what is going on with a patient, and blood work is a small part of this together with symptoms. If the symptoms seem iffy as well as something off with the bloods, then they delve deeper. Put it this way, you may not see entirely normal ranges on all components of a full blood count - platelets, red cells, white cells, etc. Leukaemia/Lyphomas are mostly the main ones that show up in a FBC, but things like tumours will not. You need more extensive testing for that.
Perhaps I worded that too 'flippantly' for you?
No not in the slightest just interested that's all as I had always assumed it was the leukaemia/lymphoma type things that would show up, but your comment related to concerns that the OP had about bone cancer which would presumably be a tumour (which doesn't detract in any way from the fact that the OP does not have bone cancer). I actually know very little about things like this so my question was purely out of interest.
Fine, cpe1978. Whatever you say.
So in other words, the blood tests won't rule out the OP's fears as 'bone cancer is presumably a tumour', so I am incorrect therefore....sigh.
I don't perosonally think the OP has bone cancer, and am merely trying to reassure them of that fact.
I'll leave it at that.
Oh Debs you are a sensitive soul aren't you? I was simply asking a question for no other reason than clarity and interest, not provocatively or through any underlying motive. The problem is the minute you say something you disagree with you throw your toys about of the pram, stamp your feet and end the conversation.
I know this is an anxiety forum, but perhaps you ought to lighten up a little and accept that people have different views to you on occasion and that a difference of opinion isn't something that always constitutes a 'spat'.
I wasn't for a second suggesting you were wrong, I was instead actually questioning whether my interpretation was correct. You shouldn't assume that any time someone asks a question or disagrees with something you say that it is some sort of guarded attack
As you have 'left it at that' I hope that this will be the last word, and I won't question the gospel according to Debs again.
livethelife
05-11-13, 21:51
what is the OP in all of these conversations? I'm confused...
livethelife
05-11-13, 22:41
ok thanks! that helps - i figured it was referring to me but didn't know what it meant :)
---------- Post added at 18:41 ---------- Previous post was at 18:37 ----------
the type of bone cancer i am concerned about - multiply myeloma does show up in blood work - or at least there would be indicators that something was amiss. i think that there are other types of bone cancer that would not necessarily show up in blood work.
No not in the slightest just interested that's all as I had always assumed it was the leukaemia/lymphoma type things that would show up, but your comment related to concerns that the OP had about bone cancer which would presumably be a tumour (which doesn't detract in any way from the fact that the OP does not have bone cancer). I actually know very little about things like this so my question was purely out of interest.
I have been posting on here the last couple of days about my fears about bone cancer. i had blood work done last Friday - got the call back to see the doctor but receptionist told me that the only issue was that my vit d was low. ok no problem. i saw her and she told me to start taking 2000 iu of vitamin d.
i asked her straight out if she thought i had bone cancer. she said that the blood work wasn't showing anything strange that indicated that. wbc/rbc etc all normal. kidney function is normal. also she asked me if my pain (I have a spot in my spine that hurts and another near my collarbone) is constant or if it comes and goes - i told her that it comes and goes - she indicated that this was a good sign and said that bone cancer pain just gets worse and worse and doesn't typically let up much.
all good. so why am i freaking out again. well....the more i looked at the results the more i didn't like the look of my c reactive protein results. i remembered reading something about crp and multiple myeloma - that it is elevated when you have mm. so my crp is 3.97 and the reference range is
0-8. so i am right in the middle but i think this is higher than what she normally sees. she said it is likely because I have had a couple of colds lately - and of course i'm thinking well yeah the reason i have had a couple of colds is because i have cancer!!
so i am back on the treadmill again - i guess i will need to book another appt with her - maybe get her to do some more extensive blood work or i may just try to put it behind me, bearing in mind i am in the middle of the reference range and see how i feel.
now i am confused and frustrated again. that was the shortest lived celebration i have ever had. it only lasted a couple of hours and now i am back worrying again.
:((
This post is truly indicative of HA. Fear, test, reassurance, doubt, fear, another test etc. Truly, one must be treated for the root of the issue to break the cycle.
Other people have said much the same, but you've really answered yourself in your post. The kind of cancer you're worried about shows as high CRP. Your CRP is bang in the middle of the reference range, therefore not 'high'!
livethelife
07-11-13, 00:07
Today I have made an appt with a psychologist - I will start seeing her next week.
Also something that was news to me as of today - I had never really thought about it.
It seems that HA is a form of OCD. it makes sense really but I had never thought of it before. But when I think of the way my mind works it is very obsessive and runs things over and over again.
I had a bit of a rough day running things over in my mind but tonight my mind was fully consumed with helping my son with homework for a couple of hours . I totally forgot about all of this and don't remember feeling any pain during this time so that was a good thing.
Also I had a good run/ walk on the treadmill today for 30 minutes.
Today I have made an appt with a psychologist - I will start seeing her next week...... but tonight my mind was fully consumed with helping my son with homework for a couple of hours . I totally forgot about all of this and don't remember feeling any pain during this time so that was a good thing. Also I had a good run/ walk on the treadmill today for 30 minutes.
:yesyes: Way to go!
livethelife
07-11-13, 11:38
I know that i need to keep busy - this morning i stayed in bed too long and started thinking about the places where my body has pain - with the worst spots being in the centre of my chest and ribs. last night i was feeling great but now i am anxious again.
i still have not been eating and i have lost 5 lbs in the last week. i am eating small amounts but really nothing is appealing.
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