Hi Naomi; welcome the club none of us applied to join, but with some great therapies which are now available and the support of each other through this site many, many members are leading very normal lives.
As someone who was brought up in a medical household I've always asked all the questions I wanted, and never had a problem getting the answers. I suggest you read the FAQ section on this site which deals with results, and it might be an idea to print it to take with you. You can then write any notes of further explanation on them, and understand them better when you get home. I would suggest writing down all the results they give you at your appointment - I've never been offered a printout.
The initial results at diagnosis are the base from which we start measuring the impact of your treatment. Key ones are the white cell count which you have in your first post, and the result which you will get about what % of your current white cells are carrying the abnormal gene.
I was personally fortunate to be picked up on a routine test for something else nearly 4 years ago when my white cell count was 180, but I had 99.9% of my white cells showing the Philadelphia mutation. My % of abnormal cells fell in 6 months to below 2%, and stayed there for around 6 months and then dropped to less than 0.1%. The tests where I am treated in the NE only test to two decimal places (some test to 3 or even 4 decimal places), and for the last 21 months they have not been able to detect any abnormal cells.
Keep asking questions - you need the info to get your head round this disease and everyone - medical professionals and the folks on here - will do all they can to help.
Hope Tuesday goes well.
Alastair
