gentlelynx8 said:I checked my blood work and urine results. Blood looks fine, but my urine results look terrible. Can someone help? Just looking for a rough idea since I won't be able to get retested anytime soon. Here’s what looks problematic..
Chemical analysis - urine test
Leukocytes - 75, unit: Lkc x 10^6 (ref. interval: neg. to 10)
Microscopic sediment analysis
Leukocytes - 25 (adult ref. interval: 0 to 2) Platelet epithelial cells - 15 (adult ref. interval: 0-2) Small epithelial cells - 5 (ref. interval up to 1) Mucus - mass (ref. interval: neg.)
What prompted you to get these tests done?
High leukocyte counts usually point toward an infection. Are you experiencing any symptoms?
Brenda Alvarez24 said:You know how it is... You just get worn out, exhausted from all this constant straining... But I have to.
I get it, but I don't think you should just brush this off. It isn't normal for those numbers to spike like that, especially if you're feeling unwell—especially considering your diagnosis and everything you've been taking for treatment. (Are you still on steroids or did they taper you off?) Steroids definitely mess with your blood sugar. (For instance, I think I'm dealing with hypoglycemia because of some antimalarial meds; my last two glucose readings were below the lower limit. Plus, I occasionally start shaking 2-3 hours after having a cappuccino in the morning, and it doesn't stop until I eat something. I can't tell if it's my sugar dropping or just the caffeine hitting my blood pressure.)
Get a solid referral for a second opinion and see a specialist you can actually trust. If you can, borrow a glucose monitor from someone and check your levels several times a day; keep a log. Note down what you ate and what your sugar levels were afterward and at what intervals (usually you check an hour or two after eating; you can find the reference ranges online).
Sophie, why aren't you seeking a second opinion? As a patient, you have every right to do that, and no doctor can deny you that. If this LOM guy starts giving you trouble about getting a referral, just report him—they'll issue the referral eventually.
Patrick, you’ve got a massive thread over on the Fitness Forum dedicated entirely to this. Check out the link here: The Weight Loss Megathread 😁 Vol.3 so feel free to head over there and ask whatever's on your mind. You'll get some solid advice on everything from meal prepping to hitting the gym.
Ashley Martin78 said:I got my referral for an exam at Johns Hopkins Hospital back in March. The two phone numbers they gave for central scheduling don't even pick up. You have to email a photo of the referral instead. So I did that. They finally scheduled me for September of this year. Now I'm reading that these referrals only last three months.
Let's try this again. 😁
When you get a referral from your primary doctor for a scan, follow-up, or checkup, you're supposed to BOOK IT within 3 months of the date it was issued. That’s standard practice here—they actually bumped it up from one month to three recently. Once you've officially booked that appointment, the referral stays valid until your actual visit, regardless of how long the wait is, as long as it doesn't exceed a year.
Basically, that referral would still be good even if your appointment ended up being way out in January. 😉
You did your research, and the results look fine. But then you mentioned how that sudden panic attack hit you out of nowhere—like a total freight train—and it sounds like that one moment just spiraled into everything else.
I have a quick question if anyone knows the answer.
If the white blood cell count comes back normal, can the differential still be messed up and point to something?
I just picked up my labs and realized my doctor only ordered a CBC, even though I specifically asked for a full panel. I've been running fevers the last few days but don't have any other symptoms. Since I deal with an autoimmune disease, it's huge for me to get everything checked to see if my condition is flaring up or if I've just caught something else.
My ESR is fine, urine tests are all clear (used a dipstick), and my CBC and biochemistry look okay—except for my iron and hemoglobin levels. I'm debating whether it's worth paying out of pocket for a differential to see if there's actually something going on with those white cells, or if I'm just throwing money away since the total WBC count is normal.
Flaxseeds are flax seeds—definitely work them into your diet since they're loaded with omega fatty acids and can really help with stuff like this. 😉
I don't know. For some things, my doctor gave me the green light; for others, she said skip it, and for some, she told me absolutely not. It's always smart to ask first, then do your own digging to figure out what actually makes sense for you.
Were you feeling sick right before this started? There's such a thing as reactive arthritis, which pops up after an infection and usually settles down eventually. Maybe that's what happened with you.
Look, it says here that alpha alpha sprouts are helpful, but I’ve read that they’re a big no-no for autoimmune diseases since they can actually flare things up by boosting immunity too much. The same goes for echinacea. You really have to be careful with this stuff. Talk to your doctors, dig through some articles and studies online, and then—only then—should you make a decision.
That’s how it’s always worked. You had a month to get scheduled—which they just extended to three months anyway—and once you're in the system, that referral stays valid until your appointment, regardless of when that screening actually happens. I think the absolute limit is a year tops.
I think you can switch whenever you want (I switched my mom over to my own health insurance plan way before the end of the year), but once you jump to a new provider, you’re usually stuck with them for at least a full year.
Does this rule only apply to centralized scheduling, or does it count if we just walk into the Community Health Center (or call them up) and ask to be put on the list manually? I heard that if you do it the second way, it’s only good for a month, but honestly, everyone seems to have a different story 😬
I'm trying to call my local clinic right now to check with the nurse, but nobody is picking up. 🙂
edit: Okay, finally got through to the nurse. I explained that I have a referral from December and that the immunology clinic called me last week to set an appointment for next week. I asked her if my current referral still works or if I need to grab a new one, and she told me that a new one is valid for 90 days and mine is perfectly fine. If that nurse is lying to me, then I'm lying to all of you.
Every news outlet and newspaper was reporting that the new policy means they're valid for 90 days. I actually went to fill a prescription recently using a 12-month referral, and nobody mentioned a thing about them being invalid.
Where are you all getting this idea that they only last a month now? There hasn't been a single word in the news about another change, and if there were, it would be posted somewhere.
Brandon Brown35 said:You misunderstood me. I haven't been coughing for five years straight; I just have lung issues. Every year I get hit with something—a cough or a sore throat—and over those last five years (according to my doctor), she’s never actually nailed down a diagnosis. She just keeps sending me for blood work. The only reason I'm posting here is because I've never had this kind of persistent fever (it's been three days now) along with the usual symptoms, and she mentioned she suspects pneumonia. What should I do: go get the blood work done or just wait it out for a few more days?
Go get the blood work done.
If I'm following you correctly, you've been sick a few times over five years, dealt with some coughing, and now you're panicking? It's flu season. Everyone is talking about four different strains of the flu and all sorts of viruses going around. Around here, people are dropping like flies, getting knocked out for a week with high fevers. There are stomach bugs everywhere too; I feel like I hear about someone having a brutal sore throat every single day.
I don't get the drama. So what if you catch something once a month and your doctor doesn't find anything major? If she ran blood tests every time and everything came back fine, and you didn't follow up, what was she supposed to diagnose? Getting sick, coughing, dealing with sinus infections or a stomach bug two or three times a year is completely normal. If your immune system is strong, you breeze through it. If it isn't, well, life happens. That doesn't mean something is fundamentally broken or that you need to freak out. The issue would be if this was happening every single month, like a constant cycle of infection.
Andrew Peterson2 said:Let's say you're hooked up to machines constantly and nobody shows up, and you can't even ask your sister to bring you something—something personal or just a snack from CVS. I hope you don't have the nerve to call home and ask them to deliver it; you are in a hospital, after all.
You're exaggerating. I think there's a massive difference between one or two people dropping off what you need and turning every single visit into a family field trip.
Take my experience at the hospital here. On the floor where I stayed, there were three different wards. One was hematology. Do I really need to explain that some of those patients are bald or undergoing chemo and who knows what else? Those people shouldn't have crowds of people shuffling through the hallways, or roommates having entire groups of people hovering over their beds, coughing and spitting around the ward. That unit consists of maybe two or three rooms packed with five or six beds each. It’s a disaster when someone acts like they're being smart and allows five or six people to show up at once. If it were me, I would Ban my family from coming in packs, just so it doesn't occur to anyone.
The medical staff is expected to change clothes and shoes when they arrive, and disinfect their hands every damn time—because nothing says "luxury" like constantly dousing your hands in sanitizer—just to stop things from spreading. Yet, on the other hand, they allow these tourist excursions where groups sit wherever they feel like, touching everything with dirty hands, and showing up with colds and stuff.
I'm not necessarily calling for a total Ban on visitors, but yeah, they seriously need to step up and enforce some actual order. Expecting people to have any sense of decorum? That’s just laughable.
Take my time in the hospital, for example. I was sharing a room with a woman who had been hospitalized more times than I can count. This wasn't her first rodeo, so she definitely knew how things worked. Anyway, visiting hours rolled around. Since I wasn't stuck in bed, I went outside to walk around the courtyard with my family because crowding into a tiny room felt insane—it was already packed enough with just us patients, let alone visitors. I come back inside to find half her entire family there: husband, daughter, son-in-law, grandkids... Since there was zero space in the room, they all decided to make themselves right at home on my bed. Just great. There I am, trying to get my treatment and rest, while someone is basically smoothing out my sheets with whatever backside they were using to sit on my bed. 🤮 It doesn't even occur to me to sit on a hospital bed in the clothes I wore outside, much less for a visitor to think it's okay to plop down on a patient's bed in street clothes.
It's even worse when you see mothers in postpartum wards getting swarmed by extended family, friends, and neighbors all wanting a peek at the baby. It's ridiculous. 😁
Look, velvetmoose9 already told you—if you signed those papers, leaving was on you. If you didn't sign and just walked out, then the FBI is going to be looking for you.
As for maternity wards and pediatrics, that's a whole different ballgame because you aren't just making calls for yourself; you're deciding for a baby too. In my view, hospital staff are legally obligated to call Child Protective Services if they think parents are acting against the child's best interests. Now, whether that actually happens consistently across hospitals in America is a question entirely of its own.
And honestly, regarding all the gossip and drama on these forums? Take everything with a massive grain of salt. You're going to find all kinds of perspectives here, from both sides of the fence.