[MuddyBoots]

Why are they there and what makes different nurses react differently to the same value? How do they know when something is outside the defined normal range but it's fine?

I was inpatient and they tested my blood sugar and it was 79 and the nurse made me drink (expired) juice, and a different nurse tested me later and it was 59 and that was okay enough for her.

Does it really not matter? I've been not feeling great so looking at my past lab values, and let's take my MCHC as an example. No one's ever said anything until it was 31.6g/dL even though before that it came back lower before that. How come they felt the need to let me know when it was 31.6 but not 31.1?

Or like when my valproic acid level was 133.5mcg/mL, how did they know it was okay and my dose didn't need adjusting even though supposedly a toxic level is above 100?

Are these things just like a "close enough" thing where it doesn't mean a whole lot, and how do they know when it's not close enough?

[Yaowen]

Wow. I have the same questions as you. I just got back the results of lab tests. I found some values "out of range" by a lot and the doctor said "don't worry about it." I don't get how those lab tests are used. My heart goes out to you!

[Tart Cherry Jam]

I have experienced it with low-ish blood pressure. What for my PCP was so low that she would not let me leave the clinic until, measured again by the nursing assistant later, the systolic climbed high enough for the PCP to feel reassured and let me go, that same number for an urgent care doctor was fine and he told me to be happy that I do not have the opposite problem that so many people have: hypertension. Same values, different reactions.