Very Different Results At 2 Different Labs?? Anyone Else?

Hello.

 My husband, was diagnosed (we not sure the dx is correct until we see a myeloma specialist, but....) with SMM in Nov 2006 was recently hospitalized with sepsis/bacterimia. He picked up the bacteria 'strep pneumoniae) in his sinuses, and it went to his bloodstream. A week on IV antibiotics, and it's cleared up, though still being rechecked weekly.

While in the hospital, they also ran an SPEP, knowing his MGUS/SMM history.  Interesting result...

Let my start by saying that outpatient, we always use the same lab (Quest). His IGg's have been (since 2006) 2460, 2550, 2612, 2880 (6 weeks before hospitalization). At the hospital lab, we were told that his IGg's dropped to 2200! 

How different can labs be? Could it have dropped due to the infection? I would think that the antibodies being produced to fight the infection would have raised it, but I'm not sure about that. He's been on curcumin for 3 months (8g/day), and we were hoping for  drop, but this seems too good to be true!

Anyone have experience with how different lab results can be at different labs? Then the question I want to ask is - so which one is right??? If the hospital lab is, he may not have SMM at all. That's been based only on his IGg levels increasing, while IGa and Igm decreased. (bone marrow results were 10% even, right on the line...).

Could it have been affected by his illness? I'd love to have it done again when he's well by both labs in a similar timeframe. However, our insurance will only pay for one lab, and I understand that the SPEP is a bit pricey....

Any suggestions?  I asked the oncologist who visited him (once) in the hospital and got nowhere. He spent 5 minutes smiling & nodding, telling us nothing! He did tell us the IGg's had gone down to 2200. I said, "that's good, right?", and he just shrugged and smiled!  I asked what the total protein level was, and he said it was up to 8.9 (it wasn't, it was  8.6 per the hosp records I got). I asked what the M-spike was, and he got very angry, and said that he hadn't had a chance to review the chart, and walked out! And for that he's probably going to charge our insurance $300!  Needless to say, we won't be seeing that oncologist again (and yes, he is the HEAD of Oncology at this particular hospital, but we're a small area, and if his whole practice of 7 docs has 15 myeloma patients, I'd be surprised). 

So what has been anyone's experience with fluctuations in lab tests??

1 worried wife

On 2/5/2008 1worriedwife wrote:

Hello.

...Let my start by saying that outpatient, we always use the same lab (Quest). His IGg's have been (since 2006) 2460, 2550, 2612, 2880 (6 weeks before hospitalization). At the hospital lab, we were told that his IGg's dropped to 2200! 

How different can labs be? Could it have dropped due to the infection? I would think that the antibodies being produced to fight the infection would have raised it, but I'm not sure about that. He's been on curcumin for 3 months (8g/day), and we were hoping for  drop, but this seems too good to be true!

Anyone have experience with how different lab results can be at different labs? Then the question I want to ask is - so which one is right??? If the hospital lab is, he may not have SMM at all. That's been based only on his IGg levels increasing, while IGa and Igm decreased. (bone marrow results were 10% even, right on the line...).

So what has been anyone's experience with fluctuations in lab tests??

1 worried wife

 

Good Evening 1WW;

Anyone have experience with how different lab results can be at different labs?

To begin with, your husbands latest IGG's are just slightly higher than the normal of 700 to 1600.

Since dx. my IGG's have steadily come down but now are starting to bounce around some. I attribute this to what I have eaten before the test. However, I focus more on my M spike and I believe the following will answer your question better.

On 12/3/07-spike 1.5, 12/17/07- 1.2, my New Years Res. to eat fish 3 times/week, 1/7/08- 1.7, stop the fish, 1/14/08- 1.2, 1/24/08- 1.0, 1/28/08- 1.5. No tests since. I don't know what I did different the week of 1/25-28/08. But something caused the increase. When I asked my Dr. about the fish and the increase he told me he didn't believe that eating fish could cause this and he also said that the test can be as much as .4 off. Think about this for a moment, the results were only 1.2, with an error of .4. Now I may have to get naked to count to 21 but that's an error rate of 33%. I doubt any medical instrument today has an error rate of 33%.

If you want to test my theory of "you are what you eat", stay on the curcumin and see if they fall any further at your next test. These Drs. just refuse to admit that something other than their medicines can cause changes in patients' results!

Take care;

Kevin

Thanks so much, Kevin!

Yes, I believe the curcumin will help, but don't know yet how much. After he had been on curcumin (at the 8g/day level) for 6 weeks, his cholesterol came down 32 points! And his triglicerides came down 80 points, all in 6 weeks!  He went off statins, which he's been on for 7 years (felt awful on them, feels great with curcumin, except for the 2 weeks of the bacterial infection).

Can you tell me how you got your Igg's to come down steadily since you were diagnosed? Was your dx MGUS or MM or SMM? Will a doc ever change a dx from SMM back to MGUS if those are coming down?

My husband's M-spike was something like this: in 2003 (MGUS dx, told no follow up was necessary), it was 0.04. In Nov 2006, family doc ran it anyway, and it was 1.8! In Feb 2007 =, 2.1, May 2007 = 2.0, Sept 2007 = 1.9, Nov 2007 (after curcumin for about 4 weeks, just reaching the 8g/day level) it was 1.9. During his hospitalization it was tested again, and was 1.8. So it is coming down, very slowly, but I know there is a fluctuation rate, and I don't want to get too excited.

 I never thought about his IGg's being influenced by diet (other than supplements). When he was hospitalized, he hadn't eaten much at all the week before, he was so sick, and fever of 103! I'm hoping it wasn't just  lab fluke, that they really are coming down. But since both Igg's AND the M-spike came down (slightly), I guess there might be something to it. HIs Globulins also came down. Albumin still normal.

You're right about the docs and supplements or diet, they just don't care! His (now former as of this hospital stay) oncologist is the head of oncology and pooh-poohed my mention of antioxidant supplements last year (my hubby drinks or takes the pill form of Garden Greens BerrySplash, which is a great antioxidant). Since that remark, we chose not to ask, but just to do what we thought best. He doesn't even know my hubby is on curcumin. Nor would he ask what we were doing to bring the Igg's down. He wouldn't even answer my question about the test resulsts! He's history!

1 Worried (and slightly obsessive) Wife

On 2/6/2008 1worriedwife wrote:

Thanks so much, Kevin!

Yes, I believe the curcumin will help, but don't know yet how much. After he had been on curcumin (at the 8g/day level) for 6 weeks, his cholesterol came down 32 points! And his triglicerides came down 80 points, all in 6 weeks!  He went off statins, which he's been on for 7 years (felt awful on them, feels great with curcumin, except for the 2 weeks of the bacterial infection).

Can you tell me how you got your Igg's to come down steadily since you were diagnosed? Was your dx MGUS or MM or SMM? Will a doc ever change a dx from SMM back to MGUS if those are coming down?

My husband's M-spike was something like this: in 2003 (MGUS dx, told no follow up was necessary), it was 0.04. In Nov 2006, family doc ran it anyway, and it was 1.8! In Feb 2007 =, 2.1, May 2007 = 2.0, Sept 2007 = 1.9, Nov 2007 (after curcumin for about 4 weeks, just reaching the 8g/day level) it was 1.9. During his hospitalization it was tested again, and was 1.8. So it is coming down, very slowly, but I know there is a fluctuation rate, and I don't want to get too excited.

 I never thought about his IGg's being influenced by diet (other than supplements). When he was hospitalized, he hadn't eaten much at all the week before, he was so sick, and fever of 103! I'm hoping it wasn't just  lab fluke, that they really are coming down. But since both Igg's AND the M-spike came down (slightly), I guess there might be something to it. HIs Globulins also came down. Albumin still normal.

You're right about the docs and supplements or diet, they just don't care! His (now former as of this hospital stay) oncologist is the head of oncology and pooh-poohed my mention of antioxidant supplements last year (my hubby drinks or takes the pill form of Garden Greens BerrySplash, which is a great antioxidant). Since that remark, we chose not to ask, but just to do what we thought best. He doesn't even know my hubby is on curcumin. Nor would he ask what we were doing to bring the Igg's down. He wouldn't even answer my question about the test resulsts! He's history!

1 Worried (and slightly obsessive) Wife

 

Good Evening 1WW;

"Can you tell me how you got your Igg's to come down steadily since you were diagnosed?"

I was on an aggressive Tx. plan of Dex/Rev/Vel. But besides the meds I read as much as possible about diet and Ph balances. I truely believe that what we feed ourselves not only can treat cancer but might very possibly have invited it into our bodies. Also, I exercise every day. Call it blind luck, but I have since learned that cancer does not like an oxygen rich environment.

"Was your dx MGUS or MM or SMM?"

I'm "lucky enough" to have been Dx. MM stage III, no chance of remission. That last part I'm working on!

Will a doc ever change a dx from SMM back to MGUS if those are coming down?

I asked my Dr. the very same question. He told me no. The initial Dx. will always stand no matter what your numbers may become. Unless of course they rise. But we're getting too educated here on CancerCompass to let that happen!

My Dr. also told me that he would rather see a slow, steady decline in the numbers. He feels from his experience that sharp drops usually results in sharp increases.

"You're right about the docs and supplements or diet, they just don't care!"

I don't agree with this comment. It's not that they don't care about your husband, you or even me. I think the good ones do care. But I feel that they have been taught by their professors and the pharmaceutical companies that the only way to save us is by the meds. Early on in my fight, I asked my Dr. "Is there anything I can eat or drink to help fight this disease?" His response; "You're on no diet restrictions, eat whatever you like." But with more of us educating each other and surviving longer, eventually the Drs. will wise up and add diet education to their arsenal of meds.

 "I guess there might be something to it."

And lastly, let my close with another personal feeling about fighting this battle. You have to maintain a positive attitude. If you recall STAR WARS: Luke Skywalker is trying to lift his spaceship out of the muck and he can't. But Yoda does! And Luke says in astonishment: "I don't believe it." Do you recall what Yoda says in response?

Take care;

Kevin