- The fever resolved, but the WBC count remained between 2000–3000.
- A bone marrow examination revealed APL, a rare blood cancer.
- Timely diagnosis led to treatment with ATRA and arsenic.
A fever is a simple matter. When fever occurs, medicine is taken and cured. But sometimes after the fever, something goes wrong in the body and we don't know. A similar incident has happened in Mumbai. There was a man in his forties. He developed a fever and became very weak. Went to doctor, took medicine and fever went down. I thought everything was fine. But when his blood was tested, one thing was just as bad. APL Blood Cancer:
His white blood cells were very low. An average person has 4000 to 11000, but he had only 2000 to 3000. Although the fever was cured, these cells were not growing.
The doctor had doubts
At first the doctor also thought that it might have happened due to fever. Because white blood cells are often reduced after fever. But this man was different. His hemoglobin was fine, platelets were also fine. Only white cells were low. And they did not grow. Then the cancer specialist of Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central Dr. Pritam Kumar Jain thought that this is not just a cause of fever. Something is different. He asked for a bone marrow examination. Bone marrow is the part inside our bones where blood is made.
Shocking report on investigation
Examining the bone marrow revealed a lot of damaged and raw cells inside. They are called blast cells. After further investigation, it was found that the man has Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, a blood cancer called APL. This is a rare type of cancer called AML.Dr. Jain said, “Initially, I felt nothing. The fever was gone, the rest of the reports were normal. But only the white cells remained low. That was what we found important. We didn't ignore it and checked the bone marrow, which caught the disease early.”
Life was saved because it was diagnosed in time
The biggest risk in this cancer is bleeding or blood clots. If the treatment was delayed, his life was in danger. But fortunately, it was diagnosed in time. The treatment of this cancer is different from other cancers. Medicines are given to grow raw cells. So those cells die automatically. The man was treated with drugs called ATRA and arsenic.
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He was in the hospital for almost a month. He benefited greatly from the medicine. The damaged cells in his body were completely gone and the disease was under control. The good thing is that he did not even have to give blood in this complete treatment.Dr. Jain said, “APL is a cancer where early diagnosis is very important. We caught the disease before it became a big fuss. He responded well to the treatment. He is now home and doing daily work. Only comes for follow-up.”
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Something for everyone to remember
One thing can be learned from this case. Do not ignore any small change in the blood report. Don't give up on white blood cell count after a fever. If they are persistently low, see a doctor. Sometimes a seemingly simple change in the blood can be the first sign of a serious illness. Same thing happened with this man. A low white blood cell count was a sign that the rare cancer was caught early and treated in time to save his life.