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Teardrop cells in manual smear.
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Jan 5 8:47am | Replies (6)Comment receiving replies
Oh gosh! @loribmt Your words are so compassionate and I thank you for just responding- but even more so in such a calming way.
I have actually called three different hematologists in the area and got the same answer from them all: even though I do not need a referral from my doc per my insurance, they say they will not take self-referrals. My sweet husband actually got upset and called BC/BS (our insurance) and asked for help and they did say that that wasn’t allowed and that they were happy to be on the line with me if I want to call again and they’d advocate. I - being averse to conflict lol - have not taken them up on that.
A small light of hope for me is that I - by coincidence- had a telehealth appointment already scheduled for Jan 11 with a regional cancer specialist for a genetic risk assessment I qualified for (my maternal AND paternal grandmothers both passed from pancreatic cancer and I have had nearly 10 precancerous colon polyps thus far at 45 years of age). I have told the patient coordinator there about this recent discovery (teardrop cells) and my concern about them and she did say she would pass the information on to the nurse and genetic counseling team. So, maybe that is a start?
Thank you for sharing your experience with spleen pain. I guess I also keep questioning if it’s my spleen bc when I feel around under my ribs (I know… I probably shouldn’t be pushing there just in case) I don’t FEEL anything enlarged. But, I am not a doc, don’t know what to look for, AND I am overweight and hold most of my weight in my midsection. So that probably doesn’t help.
It is crazy how we can “gaslight” our own self sometimes. I keep talking myself out of believing what I know I feel and what I know is likely (given not many other possibilities for teardrop cells). For example, my wbc counts back over the summer were June 23: 16.04; June 24: 18.14; June 29: 15.09; July 7: 12:84… which were all high obviously, BUT it was also when I was having the repeat/stubborn UTIs. So, was THAT causing the wbc? Was the wbc causing the UTI? Was a blood cancer causing both?? Who knows?! These are things running through my head.
At the risk of making this post a novel (may be too late! Lol), thank you again for responding. It means a lot.
-Stacy
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Hi Stacy, we’re our own worst enemy sometimes with the ‘story telling’ that goes on in our heads. Most are unfounded worst-case scenarios that can be such stress inducers and rob us of precious time. Been there!
However, I’ve also been on the gaslighting side of a very serious and aggressive blood cancer and learned the value of following our guts (or brains…whatever is leading that particular day) and push for answers. You know when you’re not feeling right!
I love that you’ve got a wonderful support system with your husband taking the lead in getting answers from your insurance company. I did chuckle with your comment about being averse to conflict LOL Yep…my husband was my knight in shining armor too! Charge to the rescue!
However, I learned from my leukemia odyssey that, while I still don’t like conflict, now I face everything head on! Pretty much feel like Wonder Woman, sigh…without the body but my attitude wears shiny deflector cuffs! 😂
The uti link…yes, having any infection can naturally raise white blood counts as the body’s immune reaction is to respond with infection fighting cells…wbc. As for having a blood cancer…don’t wander there in your headspace. Avoid living with, “What If?” thoughts. Again, not productive…because what if everything turns out right??!! And if you do have anything amiss, then you can deal with it. But save the energy that would be lost with negative thinking. ☺️
It will be very informative having the genetic testing and counseling. With your history of polyps and family history it’s a valuable tool. I know it can be a double-edged sword with the results…like…do you want to know or not if you have a genetic predisposition to an illness. But from my experience, I feel knowledge is power. And if you know ahead of time you can keep tabs on diseases, any progression and ward off evil sprits. LOL.
I’m here for you anytime for a morale boost. ☺️ Let me know what you decide…if you’re going to ‘face that conflict’ and have an insurance agent be your liaison to get the appt or wait for the genetic testing. Though that can take a while to get results. Just nudging you. Hah, and don’t worry about writing a novel, as you can see I’m never economical with words! Let me know what transpires, ok?