Dear Alicia,
Sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope the result of his test is not what you
fear, but if it is remember that there is hope for us now.
As John has told you, I have leukemia. I have been receiving chemotherapy for
a few months now, but I am far from an expert on the subject. That said --
Don't rush to judgment, Alicia. I don't think a high white count necessarily
indicates leukemia. For instance, in my case it was detected because my blood
contained so few healthy white cells, not too many. Early on I was told it is
one of the most dangerous cancers but also one of the easiest to treat. There
have been tremendous strides in therapy in recent years, and while I don't
know the survival rate, I do know that a lot of people who contract leukemia
can survive, while years ago that wasn't so. Incidentally, I have never felt
the need to find out the survival rate. We have to fight these battles
ourselves, we patients and loved ones, and I wonder how much it helps us to
know how many survive and how many don't. The main thing is to be certain you
will survive.
I think there can be quite a few reasons for a high white count -- if my case
is anything to go by, you have to have a bone-marrow biopsy before it can be
said you have leukemia. From what I've heard, white cells are produced in
abundance when there is an infection to fight off.
Anyhow, I wish you and your uncle all the best. Whatever happens, give him all
the love you can and you will give him the best medicine in the world. If
there are questions you would like to ask me, please feel free to do so. If
your questions are not technical, I will do my best to answer them. I am not a
medical person, or a technical person. I would have to do research even to
find out the chemicals I receive during chemotherapy.
For technical stuff, ask a doctor, and go to the Web. There's a lot about
leukemia of all kinds. Or, better still perhaps, do a search for "high white-
blood-cell count", which might be more helpful to you at this stage. Seek out
all kinds of opinions, and keep an open kind. Meantime encourage your uncle to
eat well and establish a good vitamin regime if he hasn't already done so.
There is a lot of material on such questions on the Web.
At present there seems to be no reason to conclude that your uncle has
leukemia. I hope you get better news than you seem to expect.
Wishing your uncle well, whatever the diagnosis.
Courage!
-- Ron
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