@Erica @ChrissyD Thanks Erica yes, absolutely! Iām certainly realising different haematologist may have different or their own opinions / experiences. And we are, like you say, all unique beings.
Still canāt believe it was only 10 weeks ago my husband was diagnosed! It feels a lot longer!
Wishing you a good wkd. Take care xx
@ChrissyD @Erica Hello both. Hope youāre ok? Just a quick update. We had good discussion with senior haematologist today at Kingston hospital. He was happy to do the referral to see Dan Wiseman & agreed that it was a difficult balance as to when to start treatment. We also discussed whether theyād be a possibility of any trials, which Iām sure Dan Wiseman will be aware of.
I also managed to see the results from the blood test done at the end of last month. white blood cell, monocytes & neutrophils had all increased & lymphocytes had decreased, over a 2 month period. I guess this is all to be expected with Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML)
Kingston did also do another blood test today. So they are keeping an eye on things.
Iām hopeful it wonāt be too long for referral to come through
Soā¦onwards & upwards
Best wishes to you both xx
Hi @Sisi and @Erica and all reading this thread.
So pleased to hear you were happy with the consultation today and that the referral for an additional opinion is going ahead. Hoping you donāt have to wait too long.
Are you aware that if you register for the NHS app, you can access all your blood test results. Obviously your husband would need to do this but I found it helpful to keep an eye on my results. As a spreadsheet nerd, I also keep the results on a spreadsheet so I can look at trends and changes.
I donāt know by how much the white cell counts have increased or how/whether other counts such as haemoglobin and platelets have changed but, clearly, any changes in just 2 months will be something that will help determine how quickly/slowly the disease is progressing. Is your husband still feeling well in himself or is he beginning to notice any changes?
As far as I am aware, there are no current trials for Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) but Dan Wiseman will certainly know if anything is available.
Do stay in touch and let us know as and when you get the referral through. Thinking of you. Hope you can find some nice things to do together to try to take your mind off all the uncertainties. X
@ChrissyD Hi thanks for your message & best wishes.
Blood test from last month showed that Monocytes have gone from 2.3 to 3, Neutrophils 7.3 to 12.9 & White blood cells 11.9 to 17.2
So quite an increase. Platelets & Haemoglobin are still within normal range. Which is something! And ofcourse he had blood test done today also.
Yes, we were only chatting about getting access to blood test results today. Although we have the NHS app we canāt access blood test results, so we will contact GP to ask for this. I feel a spreadsheet coming on!
My husband fortunately feels fine in himself, actually a lot better now that his cold has gone.
Thankyou again.
Will keep you posted
Best wishes x
Good morning @Sisi
Sorry to hear you cannot see blood test results on your NHS app. Not sure why this is. There are 2 other possibilities which, if available, your husband will have to register for.
One is something called MyChart which many hospitals have and through which you can see upcoming appointments, send and receive messages from your haematology team and read your test results.
The other is called Systmonline and is an online system used by your GP. You can see your patient record and view test results of the blood tests done via your GP and copies of letters received from hospital consultants which detail blood test results from the hospital itself. I think youāve said that your husband does receive copies of all letters sent to your GP by the hospital consultant (as this is normal practice?).
Pleased your husband has got over his cold. My goodness, I feel we are surrounded by illness at the moment! All the grandchildren are down with yet another one. Reading about the dire state of A and E departments, thatās a place I want to avoid! Roll on Spring!
So from those blood counts, I see that your husbandās type of Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) is the myeloproliferative type with high levels of white cells, whereas mine is the myelodysplastic type with the opposite. Indeed, itās great that his Hb and platelets are normal so heās not feeling fatigued.
Iām ending this reply now as keep getting messages about probs with website so Iāll post this before it gets lost and resume later!
Oh @Sisi that sounds, all in all, a positive appointment, please do keep us posted.
Yep, onwards and upwards I say too.
Look after yourselves, I find all appointments exhausting
@Erica Thankyou, yes indeed, onwards and upwards. Happy Friday & happy weekend to you xx
Hi @ChrissyD Thanks for all this. Yes, seems to be a bit inconsistent re the blood test results access. We have access to the Kingston hospital patient portal which seems to show blood test results but is sometimes tricky to access
I thought my husband was also on the Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) side as his white blood cell had been below 13 up until recently but now itās gone up, so maybe because of Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) progressing or I guess may be due to his recent cold. Or possibly both!
Sorry to hear your grand children have the cold lurgy. I seem to have had only a mild version. I hope you can stay cold lurgy free.
Wishing you a great weekend.
Best wishes xx
Hi @Sisi
Thatās a really good point you made about your husbandās white cell counts maybe going up because of him fighting a cold? Youāre absolutely learning bery fast about all things to do with blood cells! Brilliant! That GCSE biology is paying off!!
Did he have symtoms when the blood test was taken then? So it might be quite different results from the blood given more recently! That will be interesting. Always good to note these things down. I also discovered that fasting before a blood test sends the white cells down quite a bit! Had some very low counts once and it was because Iād had to fast overnight in order to have an ultrasound scan on my spleen and the blood was taken before I was allowed to eat again!
Have a good weekend yourself.
@ChrissyD Yes! Although I did O level Biology & not sure if I passed it! So long ago!
On the day last months blood test was taken, he didnāt have any particular cold like symptoms but he hadnāt been sleeping well that week & was very tired. As I was too. So not sure if that was a bug.
Definitely keeping a note of everything thanks
Thatās interesting about fasting bringing your white blood cells down. Gosh, I hadnāt realised how complex are blood systems are!
Bye for now xx
Hi @ChrissyD and @Sisi My last blood tests were fasting, but I have to say it did not make any difference to my blood test results.
We are all unique
@Erica Hmmā¦interesting Thanks for sharing. We are indeed, all unique! Take care. I hope all is ok with you & youāre well at this time? xx
Ah the glory days of O levels! Iāve become so used to talking about GCSEs from my kids and from teaching and tutoring that I forgot they only came in in 1988, way after my time!
I didnāt even do Biology at O-level and went down the Maths, Physics and Chemistry route for A-levels! All lost in the mists of time now - as you say!
@ChrissyD I feel nervous just at the thought of O Levels again! Let alone A Levels!
I only managed to do A Level Art & English.
Very impressed with yours!