blood tests

[seabeyond]

i have had pain in the right side of my neck since last march. i had a blood test and the feel of lymph nodes movement and test resulted in slight elevation of white blood cell, but the doctor didnt think cancer. it has persisted over the months and went in a couple months ago. he did another blood test, again slightly elevated white blood cell but still he wasnt concerned about cancer. still sent for a blood smear. he said it came back no cancer. i am STILL having the neck pain in lymph nodes and spread right side of neck and i am going into doctor again tomorrow morning.

my questions is anyone having experience in stuff like this,.... how confident should i be in these blood tests and smears and is there anything i should focus on or ask doctor?

i know this is not a place to get medical info, i know i need to see doctor, hence going tomorrow. simply looking for those with exprience and advice

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Go to a holistic physician

merely because they have a different way of looking at a patient--they look at the whole person, not just a symptom. Could be that they would be able to find a link between these lymph nodes and white blood count and something else.

[seabeyond]

4. i had someone about a month ago suggest that. i think i

will see what i can find. i dont know how much access there is to whatever that is in the panhandle of texas. i will research it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

25. American Holistic Medical Association

http://www.holisticmedicine.org/ahma/public?action=findDoctors

This url will take you to the place on their website where you can search for doctors in your area. Too bad you aren't closer to Arkansas, or I'd recommend my holistic physician.

[shadowknows69]

2. Watching with interest and good luck Sea

I have almost identical symptoms among a few other things. All prayers to your health. Be well.

[seabeyond]

3. what are your others

i also have a pain going down right leg periodically and seems to be about the time my neck starts kicking in. they did an xray of back nothing there.
and thank you. will let you know if i get anything

[sam sarrha]

6. try another doctor.. not a GP..what is up stream from the lymph nodes that are sore

[seabeyond]

15. i think

i understand what you are saying. could be like a bacterial in nasal or mouth. again, dental problems and doctor initially asked me about the. the dentist says no and asks about sinus. it is such a run around, like i am suppose to figure it out.

[sam sarrha]

21. mild cronic ear infections caused by carpets and mold.. home or work,,sick building ventilation syst

[shadowknows69]

8. I have that as well a bit but I DO have back issues

A pretty badly herniated disk which does all kinds of lovely things with my lower half so can't say that it's related. Enough though. We're not going to give this any more energy than it needs right now. Think positive thoughts. Envision healing energies around yourself and wait for results.

[seabeyond]

10. bah ahahahah. i am like that too. oh cool for you

and thank you

[Horse with no Name]

5. I would recommend

that you see a hematologist.
It may be nothing more than a pulled muscle, however, peace of mind is everything in these types of situations.
Blood tests and smears--when done by a reputable lab--are very accurate.
However, hematologists look at the slides themselves to make sure there aren't any abnormalities that might have been missed by a pathologist.
It is not to say that your regular Doctor isn't competent...just that hematologists have powerful microscopes at their disposal.
He can then equate your blood findings with your physical condition findings and give you a pretty accurate answer of what is going on.
As far as your visit tomorrow...you need to be sure to accurately tell your doc your symptoms.
Have you had fevers?
Night sweats?
Feeling abnormally tired?
Unusual bowel or bladder habits?
I would ask what the differential shows and then ask him to explain it.
For example, if you have bands or high neutrophils--it is most likely a bacterial problem, if you have high eosinophils and basophils it could point to an allergic type problem, etc.
If the differential is normal and your white count is still slightly elevated, it might be helpful to pull some old labs from another doctor to see if this could be something that is normal for you.
Good luck to you my friend. My prayers will be with you.:hug:

[seabeyond]

7. thank yu for this information. my issue is i have never been sick

i mean never.... i do not have any exprience, knowledge or past to go off of. i am going to write this information down. thank yu for your insight

[Horse with no Name]

13. You're very welcome

At the risk of being flamed for not being able to source what a Doc told a patient yesterday or provide a link...I will paraphrase his most excellent response to a family that had a very sick baby that is probably looking at a grim diagnosis.
He said "Sometimes this condition is caused by xxxxx, or sometimes it is caused by yyyyyyy, sometimes it is caused by zzzzzz...but more often than not, it is exactly what it is".
Relating to your symptoms, it could mean that you simply have swollen lymph nodes AND a sore neck that totally exist outside of each other.
They might not even be related.
But critically speaking, the lymph nodes are more important than the physical ailment at this point, so that is where you want to start.

[seabeyond]

16. reassuring.

i hate having some of my thoughts hanging around.

[nebenaube]

18. pssst... how old are you?

I'd be more worried about emerging auto-immune disease. Mine hit at 42... it wiped out the thyroid gland and is currently working on my adrenaline glands and pancreas. 18 million of americans have one or more active and genetically caused auto-immune disorders (incidence). Family history is often more important than you might think.

[seabeyond]

20. pssst... 45. i know nothing about this. will google

[seabeyond]

26. after reading up

on many of the diseases under this catagory, i am happy to say it isnt in my family and the symptoms of many, dont seem to be a part of my experience. thank you for the information, and you take care of you.

[Patiod]

9. I second the hematologist recc

I interview docs for a living, and have the utmost respect for generalists: GP/FPs, IMs, and Peds . The amount of stuff they have to stay on top of is mind-boggling, and frankly, most of them are amazing in the amount of info they are able to retain!

But sometimes, peace of mind demands you see a specialist, and this sounds like one of those times.

[seabeyond]

11. thank you. i will. lack of knowledge is a bitch

why i posted here. i dont have the experience to know what to do here. i will do that. talk to guy tomorrow, i like him. then see about a specialist.

[peace13]

14. Take care.

I hope they can find an answer for you. I will think good thought for you. Peace and love, Kim

[seabeyond]

17. thank you

i love peace, hence your name alone is peace...

and 13, my favorite number. day i was born, and a friday

[BluePatriot]

12. Doc do any thyroid tests?

Also let your doctor know if you are experiencing any of the hypo/hyperthyroid symptoms in the link.

http://www.endocrineweb.com/thyroid.html

The symptoms can be pretty vague sometimes and easily missed and/or your doc dismisses you as a hypochondriac (happened to me!). The thyroid is in the neck which makes me think of this.

I had a case of thyroiditis and my WBC count was off (on the low side)

[seabeyond]

19. well... since i tell ALL i am a hyperchondriac i guess it might be

something he may think, lol lol. but he doesnt treat me as such. i say it, cause i almost feel like though i feel the pains, i should dismiss them. it is a bad me. i am not a good and responsible patient. i am going ot read info. after baby my gyno went that direction because of things i gave him. again letting him know i was a hypo. i dont know why i do that, cause i dont think i am. almost an apology for wasting their time. silly me

[BluePatriot]

22. Asking for a thyroid screen couldn't hurt

I am surprised if they have not suggested one. A case of thyroiditis can cause neck pains. Many of my other symptoms were dismissed as "just part of being a woman" "some people don't do stress well" "over-exaggerating" etc. This when I was pale, shaking, hair falling out, nervous/moody enough to have been placed on mood drugs, etc.

Try finding an internist maybe instead of this blood specialist. They are good at diagnostics.

*DU med advice disclaimer: YMMV

[sam sarrha]

23. check for strep throat.. i had a friend with a mild chronic case he got from his cat which reinfecte...

him after treatment.. he got medicine for the cat and the problem went away..

a smoldering tooth root or a chronic strep/tonsil can eventually cause heart problems, attacks the valves..

have they just given you antibiotics to see if the white count deminished..??

[seabeyond]

24. nope to antibiotic. but.... afer the second blood test within hours

i went into a raging cold, so that was sitting there for my test. and because it is just slightly elevated i guess that is why he is not worried about cancer. i am going to a special dentist. i forget their names.