10 replies to this topic

[reedgirl]

I know this has been discussed before, but I'm gonna bring it up again   How and why does it affect the validity of the results?  I asked today at Greg's appointment if they run the screen today or wait until Monday.  I didn't get a clear cut answer, it was more like "I think on Monday" well, "they may start the screen today it has to run a course so I'm not sure".  This was not Dr Talpaz, it was an assistant, maybe I should have asked Talpaz. Anyway, it was another good visit.  Greg is not PCRU yet, but I expect today's lab work will come back that way.  Then again, if its not good to have it done on a Friday, who knows what his levels actually are

So, all you CML brainiacks, whats the result of having Friday draws?  Do you have accurate results?

Thanks in advance for any input

Audrey

[hannibellemo]

Hi, Audrey,

It's my understanding that Mon. - Wed. are optimal days for our PCR blood work if it is sent away. I generally get mine back the same day when I have it done at Mayo and generally a couple of days later if I have it done here and couriered up. So, I always make sure my "big" bloodwork days fall early in the week to be on the safe side.

Dr. Talpaz is Michigan? (I forget). If so, I would assume they do their own bloodwork, but I  don't know that for sure. If they wait until Monday I wouldn't be so happy about it, just try and make your appointments early in the week in the future.

Good luck, though! I have my fingers crossed for you!

Pat

[Trey]

I am certainly the most vocal "anti-Friday labs" person.  It is a very practical issue.  If the blood is taken after noon on Friday so that the lab can't finish before Happy Hour, and the lab people don't work on the weekend, then how long will the sample sit around?  Phil would ask what the number base is, and whether we are dealing with linear or logarithmic circumambulations, but that is a distraction unworthy of our attention.  Don't interrupt me, Phil.  The answer is still 60+ hours minimum.  I don't like it as a general rule.  But sometimes you don't get to set the rules.

Saying that the PCR might be started on Friday and let run all weekend is not accurate.  The PCR does not run for 60 hours.  It must be monitored and attended to.

However, if you always do it the same way, then the trend line would likely be the same slope.  If the sample is viable enough to grow the DNA/RNA, then a useful result can still be obtained.  If not, the lab will say it failed.  I would just be less likely to trust the absolute results.  Just try to have the next PCR draw done mid-week as confirmation of this result.

[acb]

Trey,

This is a little off topic but somewhat related ... I went for my first and only BMB a while back on a Thursday. (I was dx July 2010 but didn't have a BMB at diagnosis ... PB has consistently shown PCRU since Oct 2010). My new onc wanted a BMB just to "dot all the i's and cross all the t's" since I had never had a BMB. Anyway, I called after a week to get the results. Got to talk to the oncologist herself and she said there were no chromosomal abnormalities and nothing at all to be concerned about. I asked if they did a PCR. She said "they" forgot to order it but she caught it and ordered it on Monday (so 4 days after the BMB). I called the next week to get the PCR results and they said totally undetected (PCRU). I haven't received the hard copy yet. So, is the PCR result even reliable? Just wondering.

I seem to have bad luck with getting the correct care, tests, etc. It is a good thing my case has been pretty uneventful and typical!

Thanks!

[acb]

I should add that she did the BMB draw twice!!! With no drugs or sedation or anything (well, she did numb at the spot). When she did the first one, the lab guy assisting her said she did not get enough spiccules (sp?), whatever the heck those are. So she did it a 2nd time. He told her again she didn't have enough, and I said "You are not doing it again!" She said, yeah, we will go with this since it is really just a formality at this point. Then, when I called to get my results, she told me that the lab guy was wrong and she had plenty the first time -- yeah, so glad you told me that after I went through it twice!!!

I am just Bad Luck Schleprock!

[GerryL]

I'm just wondering why she said it is really just a formality at this point.

[LivingWellWithCML]

I spoke to a friend on my street who just happens to be a professor of microbiology ... He keeps a PCR machine next to his desk the way we keep things like a printer or fax machine next to ours, LOL

Although he doesn't do BCR-ABL testing, he did say that the DNA/RNA in a blood sample can have some material degradation within 4 to 6 hours that will impact PCR, given the sensitivity of the test.  He also said that it doesn't take very long to run PCR -- it's all of the medical red tape that takes the 1 to 2 weeks to report results for most of us.  At Emory, anyway, he is reasonably confident that they would not let a blood sample just sit through the weekend and that techs would work on this stuff on weekends, because they understand the importance of running PCR as closely to the draw as possible.  Regardless, I get all of mine done on a Wednesday, and I always bug the nurse with my knowledge, so I remind her that they need to run the sample across the street ASAP to get the test started immediately.   Who knows what they are actually doing though.

hope this helps!

[reedgirl]

  Thanks for the info everyone.  Greg's appointments have always been on Fridays because we travel 5 hrs to Michigan, and because that's just what they always scheduled us.  Something about the days he sees patients.  So, I guess we have that in our favor, the consistancy that he's always had Friday draws.  Next appointment is in 3 months, that one I scheduled for a Thursday afternoon.  We're hoping there will be enough snow in the northern part of Michigan that we can take our snowmobiles and make the trip a little vacation.  Maybe having a Thursday afternoon as opposed to a Friday morning will be a good test of their processing and whether or not they run his labs. He gets a basic blood draw every 6 weeks so I'm not concerned so much about the whites, reds, etc, I'm more concerned about the PCR.

  Dan, you make an interesting point....why does it take 2 weeks to get these results? I don't understand what the red tape would be that would cause such a delay, I just thought it took longer to process.  That stinks!

Thanks again everyone for the input!

Audrey

[reedgirl]

Wow Billie...that is so wrong on so many levels!  I would complain to a manager!  I can't believe she blew you off and fed you so many lies, nice patient support they have!  Hang in there and fight back, I know you will, lol!

Stay strong my friend,

Audrey

Ps...I'll email you so you have my email too.  I'm very jealous of you getting to go to Florida!  I hope and pray you get the all clear to get out of this cold weather!!! We may get a chance to fly down since we have credit from the unused tickets we had in Feb.  We had three one way tickets from Tampa to fly home after we were to spend a week or so in Fl, then Greg's dad was going to fly down and spend a few weeks, drive the conversion van home.  It was a great arrangment, but sometimes life has other plans different from ours.  We may fly to Tampa or somwhere close to Marco Island, we have friends that winter there.  How close is that to where you would be?

Ok, I'll email you now so you have mine and we can correspond.  Thanks

Oh, one more thing, I'm on facebook too, look me up and add me...Audrey Claypoole Reed