Hi, my 85 year old mother was admitted to the hospital for
pneumonia-like symptoms on Thursday her white blood count was 23,000, on Friday it
was 24,000 and by the following Wednesday it was up to 137,000. She
told us that her GP said that while they're looking at leukemia, but you
need to have a white blood count of 140,000 to be diagnosed with it, so
doesn't have it yet. Does this sound at all accurate? If a normal white
blood count is 4,000-11,000, isn't 137,000 dangerously high and the
rate that it's climbing frighteningly fast? We're wondering if it's more
serious than she's letting on and just trying to warm everyone up to
the idea that she has leukemia. Any thoughts? She said she'll know more
next month when she goes back to the GP (why a whole month and why the
GP and not an oncologist?)
Thanks in advance.
Joe