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Slightly high CBC -- freaking out.

So Ive been taking the pills and living my life for the past 5 years or so, BCR has been stable at around .010%.  Got a CBC from my normal doctor and they just called and said my WBC is 13, Neutrophils 11.5, Hemo 7.9, and platelets 139.  Nothing is crazy out of range, but its wonky.  Going back in Tuesday for a CBC and BCR.

Ive not been sick and feel fine.

This has me on the verge of a panic attack because my CBCs have all been golden since I began meds. 

Anyone else have this experience or should I be worried Ive got a mutation?

2020 suuuuucks.

From those numbers you are likely fighting a small infection possibly. So easy to freak out I’d be the same, but if you’ve been stable well into MMR for that amount of time, a mutation would have been flagged up no doubt at your last PCR. If you just had cbc without a PCR it won’t give you the full picture and I guess that’s why you’ll be having both on Tuesday. And I’d imagine if a mutation was present then you’d have gone right up.

Keep us updated as I’ve not seen anyone’s cbc rise since being on this forums other than those fighting an infection which is more than possible considering the wbc is only just out of range.

All the best

Alex

From my incredible knowledge  of CML (newly diagnosed patient here) mutations mostly appear in the first two years, you've been doing great for five years so rest easy, most likely not that. There was a post shared on this forum about that but I can't find it. You're probably clear on that front. 

Hi, you white cell count is virtually within normal range at 13.... 12 seems to be the upper range of 'normal' but remember the 'normal range' is based on averages within a population and differ globally. If your immune system is dealing with a low level infection - not sure you have any obvious symptoms - or a virus then you would expect your white cells to be doing what they are supposed to do and you would expect to see a rise. Don't freak out!

As you have had stable molecular response shown by your PCR tests for 5 years, it's very unlikely that you would see any kind of molecular relapse reflected in a blood test..... it's more likely that you have an infection of some kind that you may not even be aware of, or your blood test has been misread. No matter, a white cell count of 13 is not abnormal.

You should only worry about a mutation if your PCR tests were significantly on the rise.

Sandy

 

I think Alex is likely right - a small infection with no symptoms has caused an increase in WBC.

Actually - it's your iron (heme) I would be focused on.

You want to augment your iron intake. My heme was low also until I started supplementing with a heme-iron supplement every few days. I'm not much of a meat eater so miss getting iron from food.

Neutrophils go up and down within range you reported  You could get a neutrophil test tomorrow and it likely could be much lower. Your body is working as intended! Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Watch this and get a feel for how important germs are to our immune system:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X29lF43mUlo

warning: graphic language and funny.

 

Thanks all.  Im better now.  Just freaked out by getting call on a Saturday night.  Part of it is me being cynical as hell.  I quit drinking a year ago and am in better shape than Ive been in years - so OF COURSE the CML is coming back (my thinking).  Im a little queasy about it, but Im not gonna overly worry till there is time to have something to worry about! 
 

Thanks again all!  Ill keep you updated.

So I got my BCR test numbers from July 15th and it actually went down a tad.  So it would seem Ive either had a collapse in a month and a half or there is something else going on... might find out tomorrow (awaiting new BCR and CBC results from Tuesday). This has been a shitty week, not gonna lie... fingers crossed. 

So if I am understanding correctly your last bcr results you went further down which is good right? And you are now just awaiting the results of your blood test on Tuesday which will include cbc and bcr. Are you in the UK we have to wait a month for our test results it’s sooooo slow and inefficient.

All levels normal, BCR .007 (bout same as always).smiley  SOOOOOO, whatever happened, it appears to be no big deal or a fluke.  Thanks all so much for talking me off the ledge this week.  This place is a god send.  Promise to try and come around more.

And, yeah, our labs come back in a few days to a couple weeks (the lab my main Onc uses takes about 2 weeks).  I live in the US. 

I quit drinking a year ago, but Im gonna have one tall glass of seltzer tonight!

Fantastic mate,

Perfectly normal to worry when it happens to yourself you freak out!! When it happens to another CMLer you see things more logically. This is what happens when we think with our emotional brain and not our logical one. A fantastic book that has helped me over the years is called “The chimp paradox”. Basically explains we have 2 brains (so to speak) a emotional and logical. And you’ll learn when you’re using either. Check it out.

Enjoy the drink!

Alex

Glad to hear your are still doing well JP I remember you from the old LLS group days. Im still a turtle here in PCR I float around .02-.04. I recently had a similar CBC...lowest ever for me platelets (145) and highest ever for me neutrophils (4.8) normal WBC though (7.8). The 60+% neutrophils and the new record low platelets has me freaked out a bit although my platelets seem to be drifting lower lately alongside my decent PCR results. Now I get to start the dreaded week + wait for PCR results. ugh

My PCR is back up to .07 glad I am still in MMR but annoying to still be playing this game after 6 years wish I could just be .00X and sit back and forget about it. Oh well could be worse I suppose. Repeat CBC showed my platelets were back in normal range and neutrophils back to 3.5 where they usually sit so I suppose that is a small relief.

Yes, those are two good things to focus on.  You're in the safe zone, as you know, on the PCR.  It is hard to not be annoyed, I know.  It's a miserable game and you want to just smash the ball against the wall sometimes and stomp away.  An extremely hard piece of advice to follow is to try and not care so much.  And yet, after 12 years, I still can't ignore either the lead-up to or the waiting for results parts of the PCR game.  So now I try and talk myself into not caring so much that I care so much LOL.