Hi there. My father has recently received some blood results and doctors are pushing towards a CML diagnosis. He is 61. His CBC came back with an elevated wbc 53,000 and spleen slightly enlarged. Everything else clear. I know worst thing to first thing to do is google. And I’m already getting extreme anxiety with the unknown for my father. Could anyone give me any Insight as to what that number means as far as severity? I’d greatly appreciate it.
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Hi Jess. The normal range for WBC is between 4 and 11, which makes 53,000 sound pretty scary. However, there are people on this forum who were diagnosed with WBC into the hundreds of thousands, and are now doing fine a number of years later. At that number if his spleen is only slightly enlarged he is doing pretty well.
Getting his WBC back down is important, but doesn't really tell us about the severity of the condition. Assuming you are in UK he will likely have a FISH test which will show the % of his white cells have the gene transcription. As he responds to medication, that % will come down, and when it gets down towards a few %, they will use a PCR test to monitor the lower levels. The % of Blasts in the test is also important - we want that to be as low as possible. Around 50000 for WBC at diagnosis is not unusual.
Assuming CML is confirmed, there are great drugs available which mean that a very large majority of those diagnosed with CML will have a pretty normal life expectancy, and are very likely not to die as a result of their CML.
Under the "About CML" tab above there is a section for those just diagnosed which may be useful. I would also suggest he/you should use the checklist templates which are on that page to ask questions, and that you get copies of the test results from the specialist. If you have those and ask questions on here the forum will be able to help.
Do let us know how you get on; the more test results you have the better the forum will be able to help you. Also this is a big diagnosis, and physically, as the drugs start to work (likely with some side effects), and mentally, as he comes to term with it, people will be able to help with coping strategies and what worked for them.
Sorry that you find yourself having to write to us, but you are in a good place to get any support you need.
Thank you so kindly for the informative response. I’m very appreciative. This is all new to my father and myself so I’m trying my best to be as informed as possible. As he gets more test results I will keep you updated. In the meantime I will continue to read the stories of others here. And keep the faith.
Thank you again sir,
Jess
Hi Jess,
Sorry to hear of the diagnosis it’s a scary time for all. But it’s not as scary as it all seems. I was diagnosed with a massive spleen and a wbc of 330!
15 months later I am doing fine, bloods have been perfect since starting meds and I am hopefully heading towards MMR.
Psychologically it’s a tough time for all involved and I am sure in time you’ll see that the drugs are amazing.
Sure I wasn’t always this calm. I cried for many days in the beginning and was pretty useless for a while. You’ll all get there try not to panic. Seems a strange thing to say when you’ve been told you have Cancer but it’s a name used for a whole variety of Cancers some worse than others. Lucky for your dad if you do get one this is the one you want as 95% of those diagnosed will live a full and normal life. I am only 39 so that is a few years hopefully left for me too 😂.
Take care
Alex