Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 Hi all My Dr is concerned because my percent lymphs jumped from mid 50s TO 71%. But my WBC went down to 9.1 so by my calcs my ALC is 6.5 which is down from last time when it was 8. I thought the only thing to worry about was the ALC and its doubling time. My Hem/Onc is very busy and visits are brief. I thought he said something off to the side about tumor load but not sure. If I am not quick with my questions the visit is over before I can formulate some of my thoughts. So I brought the question here. Thanks in advance for any information that can help me understand this better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 > My Hem/Onc is very busy and visits are brief. [snip] If I am not quick > with my questions the visit is over before I can formulate some of my > thoughts. I think you need to have a bit of a talk with your Hem/Onc - your life depends to at least some extent on what you and your Hem/Onc discuss - it is not just what you find out that is important - it is also what he/she finds out about you, too. Obviously, having a list of questions prepared ahead of time with you will help, but there has to be some time allowed for some two-way communication, too. I think you somehow have to have a discussion about ~that~ as well. Just my own thoughts, not minding my own business... Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 Dr. Furman gets angry at me when I worry about lymph %. But, hoping that he will forgive me, I find a correlation between my well being and between my neurophil%/lymphocyte%. A well person might have a neutrophil% twice as high as the lymphocyte%. But, do noit forget that it's really the abolute numers that count, i.e. % of WBC. In a message dated 2/24/2011 9:43:41 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, GARYSERBO@... writes: Hi all My Dr is concerned because my percent lymphs jumped from mid 50s TO 71%. But my WBC went down to 9.1 so by my calcs my ALC is 6.5 which is down from last time when it was 8. I thought the only thing to worry about was the ALC and its doubling time. My Hem/Onc is very busy and visits are brief. I thought he said something off to the side about tumor load but not sure. If I am not quick with my questions the visit is over before I can formulate some of my thoughts. So I brought the question here. Thanks in advance for any information that can help me understand this better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 First, are you an untreated patient? If so, I wonder what your numbers were at your initial diagnosis and how it was determined that you had CLL. I beg to differ greatly with 's post further down in this chain. Percentages have very little meaning until they are multiplied against your WBC to get your ALC. And If your ALC is so nice and low as it appears .. then it could double and .. so what, as your ALC is so good. Are you an SLL patient who presents their disease in their nodes? Do you have an enlarged spleen? Do you have B symptoms of fatigue or night sweats? Do you have your Hgb and platelet numbers and were they of concern? If you are a treated patient, then I can see concern with having too low numbers ... Probably most importantly .. is your hema / onc a CLL/SLL expert? If not, you really should see one for a second opinion. So guess we all need to know a bit more about you in order to really respond in a helpful fashion. All the best, Lynn > > Hi all > > My Dr is concerned because my percent lymphs jumped from mid > 50s TO 71%. > > But my WBC went down to 9.1 so by my calcs my ALC is 6.5 > which is down from last time when it was 8. I thought the > only thing to worry about was the ALC and its doubling > time. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Can somebody please tell me what ALC is, its significance, and how one calculates it? Thanks, Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 This is from ACOR's FAQ...http://cllfaq.info/index.html quote: ALC - Absolute Lymphocyte Count " Absolute counts are extremely important. If lymphocyte or other counts are reported as percentages of the total white blood count (wbc), theabsolute values can be calculated as follows: Total wbc x % cell type reported ÷ 100. This formula can be used for calculating the absolute lymphocyte count, absolute neutrophil count, etc. By way of example, if the total white count reported is 25,000 and the percentage of lymphocytes reported is 80%, the calculation is as follows: 25,000 x 80 ÷ 100. The result is an absolute lymphocyte count of 20,000. If the total white blood count minus the total lymphocytes is less than 2000, the patient becomes increasingly at risk of infection. This is one of the reasons it is essential to monitor absolute counts, not percentages. end quote HTH ~chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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