I was having a lot of the standard symptoms- dizziness, fatigue, and symptoms associated with dehydration including extreme thirst and horrible cramps in my neck and shoulders. I finally saw an internist and he ordered a blood test either that day or the next and the day after that I got a phone call from a nurse navigator at the North Bay Cancer Center that something was off and I needed to go in that afternoon. When I went in they sent me to see Dr. Long, who's the head of the hematology/oncology dept. there and he showed me on the computer that I proved positive for PV

Hi Darryl. My HCT (hematocrit - may have spelled that wrong) was waaaay out of whack and high. I had blood testing last fall and they failed to do a complete blood count (CBC). That's the first indication that showed it and will for most people. I started with a new physician and she ran the full gammit of blood tests on me to get a baseline on my health when I started with her a couple months go. Bam. There it was. Associate yourself with a good medical system. My preious doctor ran tests on me but NOT a CBC. No idea how long I have had this.

In my case the diagnosis came about as a result of my regular doctor being out on my appointment date and the one filling in though I looked “ruddy “. He ordered a CBC test on me and the hematocrit reading was in mid 60’s. That led to a referral and diagnosis.