A Bad Trend

I was notified this evening that another test result was posted in my medical chart.  Compared to how bad it could be (and what I have seen in other patients), this test result isn't horrendous but it is indeed bad with a very bad trend.  

For the past five years, this particular number has elevated farther and farther out of normal range.  This particular number is directly related to my mast cells which are the cells that aren't behaving normally due to my illness so this test result is a primary marker for my rare myeloproliferative disease.  My current treatment drugs are supposed to be keeping this number as close as possible to the normal range and keeping my mast cells as stable as possible so this number should be trending in the other direction.  Instead it is elevating farther and farther from normal.

This test result, by itself, is likely enough to be a concern but when we also look at the other test results that I wrote about previously showing one problem with my red blood cells and another problem with my white blood cells, then this is a bigger concern.  Seeing multiple highlighted areas of these test results is actually a bit of a surprise for me.  I knew I hadn't been feeling well for quite some time but I wasn't expecting to see multiple issues in test results.

I suspect I'll hear from my oncologist on Monday (hmmm...  well, only if all the test results have come back...  I'm not sure).  We'll see what she recommends as the next step but I have a pretty good idea that it will include some further testing that is much more invasive and painful (another bone marrow biopsy at a minimum).  The concern is that I may have moved into a different stage/classification of my rare illness (which is very bad news since there is no cure for this myeloproliferative disease).  Or, worse yet, since my illness is closely related to some of the more aggressive leukemias, I may be developing one of these leukemias either related to my illness or as a secondary illness.

On the positive side, this test result usually takes about a week or two to come back and it came back the next day so that is a nice change.  Hmmm...  well, maybe not so good since I was hoping for a little break while we waited...