# Low Lymphocytes ~ Worried.



## Vito's Mommy (Jan 19, 2005)

My son had a complete blood panel done a couple weeks ago. He has occasional dark circles under his eyes and tends to be paler than most kids. His iron is just a little low, no prob. But what scared me is his Lymphocytes (white blood cells). The norm is 35-65. His is 27. My husbands mother died of leukemia years ago. I know that docs say that leukemia is not hereditary. I'm not looking for trouble here, but leukemia IS a form of cancer and cancer, they say, is hereditary. Any thoughts or anyone ever had their child's lymphocyte count come back low? Thanks.


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## foreverinbluejeans (Jun 21, 2004)

I am a former hematology medical lab tech and I think I can put some of your fears to rest. If your son's CBC was done at a big lab the lymphocyte count would have been done by a machine. The problem is, lympocytes are about the same size as monocytes and the machine can make mistakes. Kids normally have more what used to be called atypical (not normal) lymphocytes. This is normal for kids but would not be normal for adults.

Because the result was abnormal it should have been checked by microscope. If it was a reference lab the tech may be overworked and a specially trained tech or pathologist may not have looked at it. If it was a large hospital then there is an increased chance that a well trained person is doing the test.

I wouldn't be concerned about a result of 27. That same tube of blood could be run through the machine and have a higher result. The machine might have had a bad day. Who knows what kind of tech did the testing. When I was in training for my certificate degree in medical technology (not even an associates) I could report out CBCs after a week of training in the department.

I later worked at a reference lab that would expect me to do 3 times as many differentials (microscopic exam and count of the types of WBCs) as anyone should and no one would check those I found abnormal. I went on to be certified at the BS level and worked in a major hospital hematology department. It is amazing how different labs are and the people working in them. The person doing your sons CBC could be someone going to a technical school that just barely graduated high school and had a couple weeks training. My son is in this kind of program right now.

See if you can go to a hospital lab to have the blood drawn and have the test done there. Frequently doctor's offices send blood to reference labs.


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## Vito's Mommy (Jan 19, 2005)

Thank you for the reply and the insight. I spoke w/the doc and he said not to worry b/c he felt the white blood count as a whole was fine. My son had his blood drawn at a medical group. It's a good sized foundation, but not as large as a hospital of course. I would have to go outside our area for further tests, as I don't care for the local hospital too much. I sure did like the phlabotomist at the med group! My son's hemocrit was 33.6. 34 is considered on the low end and the doc said that if I want to try an iron suppliment that he is ok either way. Any comment on this? Thanks again!


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