cllimbing wbc question

[kristyk]

My Mom had CBC today. wbc has been quuickly on the rise..climbing from 17 to 31 today in past three weeks. We will be seeing her doctor Monday. She is having increased body aches hurts all over…says this has gotten worse in past few days. Takes Tylenol 2x per day for past few days which concerns me because I know tylenol can mask fever. 3 weeks ago BMB blast blast was 18, blood 15. What should I be asking th doctor about the wbc?

Mom 63 MDS dx 2/05 still not clear on class. but likely in transformation. weekly procrit. still awaiting dectibine trial

thanks for any all advise/info

Kristy

[patti]

Kristy,

I had to ask my MIL doctor’s this question last week. I wanted to know how we would know if mom had progressed into leukemia. She said that when the white cells take a large sudden jump then they look to see if its gone into leukemia.

It would be helpful if you have some baseline wbc numbers for your mom. Was she at a certain level for any length of time? If she was at a very stable level then I would ask the doctor to check for increased blasts circulating in her blood. This might also indicate a progression in AML.

I hope this is not the case for your mom but it would help to ask. Like I said, we just asked our doctor the exact same question about mom’s wbc’s.

patti

[eve]

my dad’s wbc count is higher than normal when we get the initial cbc, but then the lab takes into consideration his nucleated red blood cell count and that actually brings the wbc count down

eve

[Neil]

Hi Kristy,
Not sure which WBC scale you are quoting.
Is it 1.7 to 3.1 or 17000 to 31000?
Jumps in counts occur and then drop back. Her Monday session should clarify what is going on.
Body aches are a part of MDS for many. I always ache. Calves, knees, thighs, hips, lower back, shoulders. Pain is worse in thighs and hips. Suspect it is due to the larger bone mass and larger marrow areas, thus the increased levels of pain. Exercise, sometimes helps. If I over exercise it can make it worse.
Has her RBC/HGB changed during this time?
As my counts go down my pain goes up. Feel best the week after a Procrit shot. Pain usually increases as I approach my next shot.
Neil

[Terri]

Hi Kristy, Bobs White Blood cells always seem to be his problem, They started increasing again last fall and the Doctor did the BMB and found his blast were increasing as well, he put him back on the Vidaza which is helping keeping the blast and WBC under control. Now normal and so are the Reds. HGB stays pretty stable as well as the plts even though they are low.
Last year he also had the blast in the blood and the Vidaza seemed to get that under control as well.

[kristyk]

thanks to all who replied. To answer Neil’s question, her count was 31000 yesterday. I want to say that is been high since Dx in Feb, but had been in the teens until last few weeks, then 22, 24 and now 31000. I think something is going on becasue her blood blast went from 4 on 4/18 to 24 on 5-23. Gosh I think I have been throwing out the wrong # in last few posts( I was saying blood blast was 15)But it is 24. First BMB 2-25-05 was 10, 5-23-05 it was 18. Again the majic # to particiapte in this trial is 20. HGB is at 8.8 today..last transfusion was 4-20-05 and she has gone from 10.5 post tx slowly down to where we are at today . They transfuse when she is at 8, so I suspect she will be getting one in a few weeks. As for bone marrow blasts…hate to hope for increase, but 20 is when she can start decitibne. I imagine she is there or close. What concerns me is that doc said if wbc gets to 50000 she can’t do the study.
well, thanks to all…I’ll let you know. Hope you and or your loved ones are hanging tough! Kristy

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