Enlarged Lymphnode

[smilie]

I don't know if anyone recalls the post I made awhile back about the large knot in front of my ear. But, it hasn't gone away in 2 weeks so my DH made me go to the Dr. She said it was an enlarged lymphnode and said because of my family history (Grandfather died from lymphoma cancer) she wanted me to get some blood work done to get a "blood count". That was Wednesday and I still haven't heard back from the Lab. Has anyone ever had blood work like this done before? How long does it take to get the results? I called the office yesterday to ask when I should expect the results and she said she'd have to call me back. I hate waiting!

 

[Christine]

A blood count is usually called a Complete Blood Count (CBC) with differential. They basically count the red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and other "things" that are in your blood. They also look at the percentages of these things in your blood count because the percentage means something too. Usually a high white count will mean some type of bacterial infection or trauma. Low red counts could indicate anemia, etc. If the counts are abnormal, then they do more tests as the blood count doesn't really diagnose anything--just hints that something is off.

It is a very quick test. For instance, I had my blood count drawn on August 3rd. The results were faxed back to my doctor on August 4th. He reviewed them on August 5th. Most of the time you spend waiting for test results is due to your doctor finding the time to read them. Or, if your lab doesn't fax results, you may have to wait for the "snail mail" to deliver them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It should be back by now. However, you can probably take it as a good sign they haven't called you yet. If it was something worrisome the lab would have alerted the doctor's office and they would have told you you needed to come in, have it redrawn, make an appointment to see the doctor, etc...Call your doctor's office and tell them you'd like to get your test results today. Good luck and HTH.

P.S. The lab will not give you results - the doctor who ordered the tests has to do that.

 

[Daxx]

I don't know what kind of bloodwork you had done, but I can tell you that at one of our local labs, I had a CA-125 (test for ovarian cancer) and they run those ONLY on Thursdays. Unfortunately, I had been in on Thurs. and missed the "deadline time" and my blood sat in the lab for a week until they could "process" it on the following Thurs. I had no idea of this and was waiting on pins and needles for results ... finally, after I pestered them enough, my Dr.'s office called the lab and that's how I found out about the delay in bloodwork.

That said, I'd call your Dr.'s office immediately, request results and if they don't have them, ask them to call the lab to find out what the scoop is.

 

[Christine]

I don't know what kind of bloodwork you had done, but I can tell you that at one of our local labs, I had a CA-125 (test for ovarian cancer) and they run those ONLY on Thursdays. Unfortunately, I had been in on Thurs. and missed the "deadline time" and my blood sat in the lab for a week until they could "process" it on the following Thurs. I had no idea of this and was waiting on pins and needles for results ... finally, after I pestered them enough, my Dr.'s office called the lab and that's how I found out about the delay in bloodwork.

That said, I'd call your Dr.'s office immediately, request results and if they don't have them, ask them to call the lab to find out what the scoop is.

Daxx,
I have a similar test done (thyroglobulin which is a thyroid cancer marker). They do the same thing. They only run the test on Wednesday at some faraway lab. If you happen to go to the lab at the wrong time, it sometimes takes up to 10 days to get the results back.

 

[Daxx]

Daxx,
I have a similar test done (thyroglobulin which is a thyroid cancer marker). They do the same thing. They only run the test on Wednesday at some faraway lab. If you happen to go to the lab at the wrong time, it sometimes takes up to 10 days to get the results back.

And, don't you wish your Dr. or the lab would tell you this so you could go before they send it out to get faster/accurate results? I was sick when I heard that my blood had been sitting around for a week in that lab!!!! I kept thinking "well, maybe in a week, things could have changed and they're going to test old blood?"

I hope your bloodwork turned out ok. Mine came in clean ... whew!

 

[Bob Slydell]

I guess it depends on the doctor / hospital, but when DW had her bloodwork done (which ended up finding signs of Hodgkin's), it was back the day after. Things moved pretty quickly from there -- CT Scan, biopsy, PET Scan...

 

[smilie]

I believe that the results should be done (Lab is in the same office). I just called the office again and the nurse said "We found your chart late last night, the doctor hasn't had time to look at it." ...... and the waiting continues


ETA: Bob Slydell your children are absolutely precious!

 

[Bob Slydell]

I believe that the results should be done (Lab is in the same office). I just called the office again and the nurse said "We found your chart late last night, the doctor hasn't had time to look at it." ...... and the waiting continues


ETA: Bob Slydell your children are absolutely precious!

Thanks

And good luck -- my gut feeling is that if the doctor was concerned, he/she would have been on top of the lab results.