5 replies to this topic

[mark1963]

my rbc has been about 3.6 an my hematocrit has been 36 with slightly high mcv and mch on my last 4 quarterly cbc tests. I am 4.5 years on gleevec 400mg. my onc hasn't mentioned it. I just signed up for an online portal and am a little irritated. that he hasn't mentioned it or an intermittent low glomerular filtration rate. is this anything to be concerned about? I was anemic for most of the first 2 years is this just an ongoing thing with anemia? everything else is relatively normal and I feel good enough to workout  20-25 minutes before work daily

the low kidney thing has me really thinking about firing this doc and finding a new one.

thanks

Mark

[Trey]

It took about 6 years for me to get out of the low RBC & HCT rut.  So you are not alone. 

[mark1963]

thanks Trey. hate seeing those L's and H's in the abnormal column.

mark

[Sneezy12]

+The Serum Creatinine is more sensitive than the routine estimated GFR done on a Comprehensive Metabolic Profile. The latter decreases with age.  Frank

[hannibellemo]

Mark,

I'm just 6 months or so ahead of you and my counts are very similar on 50mg. of Sprycel. I just consider it normal for me at this point of the disease. Neither of my docs are concerned so I don't let it bother me.

Pat

[RayT]

Hi, Mark!  I'm newly diagnosed CML patient, on Gleevec < 3 months now.  I wish I had your numbers!  Mine: RBC= 3.01, HCT= 30.5. The good news is that WBC is 5.3K, down from 45K in January.  The bad news is that the side effects (fatigue, fluid retention, chills) are kicking the @#$% out of me. I share your same frustration about seeing L's and H's!  As a paramedic, I keep having to remind myself to look at "how far" out-of-range those Ls and Hs are.  The fact that you are working out and feeling well leads me to believe that your RBC and HCT values don't pass the "so what" test, as I call it.   When I was in the hospital in January with a HCT=29, I remember worrying about the need for a transfusion and talking about my anemia to the oncology/chemo nurse. She said, "We consider any HCT over 20 to good be good on this unit.  You're fine!"  ...and she was right!

Hang in there!!!