i was recently referred to a hematologist. i am 24 years old, and have never really been sick before. i have been sick for about 3 months now. i feel really tired, achy all over, and my hands and feet will excessivly sweat through out the day. i have had blood work done like 6 times now. my white blood cells remain high. they started at 15 went to 20 dropped to 11 and are now back at 16. i am really starting to get scared. should i worry about cancer.

I will pray for you. Just remember that cancer is no longer a death sentence. My husband was diagnosed with leukeamia in June 2007, he had 6 months of intensive treatment and a bone marrow transplant(sounds worse than it is) and he is fine now!
Good luck!!
:)

I'm going to start posting here as often as possible, because I feel that discussion boards NEED people and the people here NEED support from others in the same, or a very similar, boat.

To begin with, being scared is a normal reaction. I freaked out completely. My parents are dead and I have no siblings. My husband does the best he can, but he doesn't always understand how I'm feeling.

I can only offer my own experience, and that is that I found digging up too much information on my disease freaked me out. There is every kind of special diet, "natural cure," treatment centers, etc., for my diagnosis of CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia).

I cried. I sat around like a zombie. I had anxiety attacks. Ugh. Then I found the top treatment centers in the country for my condition.

One thing I have learned from being through the emotional wringer: fear doesn't help the situation because I ended up driving myself crazy with "Why Me, Why Now, Why This???" sort of thinking. Hey, I'm not even in the general statistical/demographic population for having this disease. I should be a male, approximately 70 years old - NOT!!

You keep posting here and I'll do my best to ease your fears in any way I can. You are not alone.