Query on blood test

Lately I've been feeling unwell with a feeling of heaviness, a sense of depression and anxiety, I feel light headed a lot lately and also have an inflamed right leg.

I decided to go for a blood test because 3 of my relatives have been diagnosed with cancer in the last year.

I went for my blood test last monday at the GP. I had requested tests for cancer and diabetes.

I rang up the surgery today and spoke to the receptionist who said one of my bloods came back with a need for more investigation from GP. Now I am worried, I could only get an appointment for Saturday.

Surely if if was serious they would gave made effort to contact me, I wouldn't have needed to folloa up?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

bad_username

Original post by Slim and proud

today's medical services are ****ed up.

Reply 2

ForgetMe

Original post by Slim and proud

Apparently, you are supposed to follow them up yourself :facepalm:

I've been waiting long time for my heart screening test to come up but it appeared to be that I had to call them and when I did, they've already lost it so I had to repeat it and again they did not contact me. I work unusual shifts and come back home late, so don't have time to go see my GP but when I do, they tell me to leave my phone number and say my GP will contact me :facepalm:

I guess you'll have to do all the chasing yourself as they seem not to be bothered which is stupid because where I come from, GPs always make another appointment in a week or two to tell you the results.

Reply 3

Limpopo

Can a blood test show cancer?

Reply 4

L'Etudiant

A relative of mine was asked to book an appointment with the GP after their blood test was completed. He was worried all week and all it was was the doctor just repeating what another GP said and talked about how to reduce the risks of getting Diabetes and other conditions.

It could be nothing or it could be something.

On another note, in regards of Blood Tests - do they test your blood for everything possible or you specifically ask for certain conditions? If a blood test is the only way to find out (early) then how am I supposed to know what I am suffering from!? :confused:

Reply 5

Etomidate

Original post by Slim and proud

Original post by L'Etudiant

On another note, in regards of Blood Tests - do they test your blood for everything possible or you specifically ask for certain conditions? If a blood test is the only way to find out (early) then how am I supposed to know what I am suffering from!? :confused:

You couldn't possibly request every blood test! There are an innumerable amount of blood tests that a doctor could request. As well as being inordinately expensive, time consuming and labour intensive (yes, for many tests there are actually still people with pipettes, glass slides and microscopes), you probably wouldn't have enough blood in your body to perform them all.

And you're not expected to know what you're suffering from! This is why you're seeing a doctor! They use their training and experience to discuss your symptoms, they examine you, and formulate a number of possibilities which they then prove/disprove by ordering specific tests.

This is why laypeople going to the doctor to request specific blood tests is usually nonsense.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 6

Joshalos

Original post by L'Etudiant

What happens is your GP will request a panel of tests depending on your symptoms. For example, tiredness can indicate many things so a full blood count, haemoglobin etc would be tested for (for conditions such as anaemia) as well as a thyroid function test.

Most requested tests look at a number of different hormones and chemicals and so they are pretty extensive. If a certain value comes back too high/low or they don't find anything then further tests may be requested to either investigate something else or to hone in on symptoms.

Limpopo

Can a blood test show cancer?

Certain things can indicate possible cancer - for example a full blood count may be requested which would show abnormalities in the number of certain white blood cells (such as in leukaemia) which would prompt the haematologist to examine the blood more carefully under a microscope to confirm or discard this diagnosis.

They an also look for the presence of antibodies or tumour markers which are released by the tumour to indicate cancer.

Reply 7

Slim and proud

Original post by Etomidate

It's not really ideal getting blood results from a receptionist as they tend to look at whether the computer states that they're too high or too low which, in many circumstances, can be misleading. Interpreting blood tests is much more complex than that.

Personally, I would make an effort to follow up on the results yourself by booking another appointment. It also gives you an opportunity to discuss what the next steps may be. If the GP failed to contact you regarding follow up, that's his problem.

Also, just to clarify, there is no 'blood test for cancer' as such.

You couldn't possibly request every blood test! There are an innumerable amount of blood tests that a doctor could request. As well as being inordinately expensive, time consuming and labour intensive (yes, for many tests there are actually still people with pipettes, glass slides and microscopes), you probably wouldn't have enough blood in your body to perform them all.

And you're not expected to know what you're suffering from! This is why you're seeing a doctor! They use their training and experience to discuss your symptoms, they examine you, and formulate a number of possibilities which they then prove/disprove by ordering specific tests.

This is why laypeople going to the doctor to request specific blood tests is usually nonsense.

I had my appointment with the doctor today. All my bloods were within normal range, apart from iron which was slightly low and also a kidney functioning one which was slightly out of range but both of them seemed to be due to my excessive drinking of water, the doctor said they aren't to be worried about.

Reply 8

Sean3000

Blood tests can rule out reversible 'common' pathology such as anaemia, thyroid disease but in the absence of other symptoms often have a poor yield.

It also gives your GP a bit of extra time to allow your symptoms to dissapear on their own.

Blood tests for 'cancer' are only used with clinical corrolation, ie if there was an abnormal finding consistant with cancer in history and examination, and even then have poor specificity. The blood tests 'for cancer; are mainly used for patients with biopsy confirmed cancers to monitor the response to chemotherapy and are never used to diagnose cancer.