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how sudden can leukemia occur?
Bleeding gums could mean you have a gum disease, or sometimes Leukemia.
But the petechiae .. if you have that with the bleeding gums, I think it'd be best if you got that checked out.
Oh & I don't know how sudden Leukemia can occur, sorry.
[QUOTE=deon50;3712173]how sudden can leukemia occur?[/QUOTE]

I was diagnosed with AML and did not have bleeding gums or patichiae. The doctors believe my Acute Myolegenous (spelling?) Leukemia developed in a period of weeks, however there are Chronic Leukemias that take much longer. Basically, my bone marrow cells deformed and reproduced mutated cells very quickly, called blast cells.
Other symptoms I had began with headaches, severe night sweats, difficulty breathing, and super low energy.
About 15 yrs ago I had problems with anemia and wonder sometimes if that wasn't a precursor to leukemia.

To answer your question, no, bleeding gums and patichiae do not mean leukemia.
I had petechiae speckled here and there over my arms for what seemed to be several years........nothing that obvious and when I would ask about it, the doctors would just dismiss it but my AML presented with jaw pain for two or three weeks and early one morning as I was brushing my teeth a fine red thread appeared around each tooth and that was scary so I ran to the dentist before work. He said all your two pockets are 6 pockets and something is terribly wrong, stop at your doctors on the way to work so I stopped there and they took blood and I went to work. At 2pm the same day they called to say something was terrible wrong with my blood and I was to go right in. When I get to their medical office they sent me immediately to the oncologist who told me unless I checked into the hospital that very afternoon they could not promise to save me, I was thunderstruck! It was AML - Acute Mylosestic Leukemia.
It can occur at anytime it's not something that you catch and has to develop, my son has ALL and he had only developed Leukemia a month at the most when he was diagnosed, his Leukemia is cause by one cell one day, starts making abnormal cells for no apparent reason, it's not genetics and if i have other children they won't have Leukemia, I hope i helped a little :)
I think a blood test is the start to finding out if one has problems with their cells. Perhaps you should ask for a CBC with differential if something is off in terms of having this disease I think it would show in this blood test?

ALL can come on very quickly. Some signs are being pale, no energy, peticia (sp) brusing. My daughter had Leukemia at age 2, 18 years ago. She is now 20 and making straight A's in college. She had a minor operation 2 weeks before she was diagnosed and her blood clotted fine. 2 weeks later, you could touch her gently and she would bruise.

I thought it was great she was taking her naps without a fight, but she didn't have the energy.


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