The "insect bite" of the man was really a sign of leukemia

When an Ohio man developed a swollen root ball, he thought it was just a particularly painful and stubborn insect sting. So he was stunned to discover that it was actually a sign of leukemia, according to reports.

The man, Mike Balla, 46, first noticed the root ball on his foot last August, according to NBC today. He thought it was a mosquito or spider bitebut soon it became bigger and more uncomfortable. After consulting a doctor, he learned that the mass was probably an insect bite and that he had been treated with antibiotics.

But the treatment did not seem to work and he was given another antibiotic. When that also failed, Balla was found in the emergency room.

Related, connected, related: 5 strange effects of insect bites

It was then that an emergency doctor came into his room and told him that they were waiting for a consultation from an oncologist. Balla first assumed that they had mingled with another patient.

"I said:" I think you have the wrong person, I have a foot bite that is infected, "Balla told Today.

But the doctors told him that blood tests had revealed acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of blood cells and bone marrow. It is a rapidly evolving cancer that requires immediate treatment.

Symptoms may include fatigue, bone pain, easy bruising and bleeding, and increased susceptibility to infection, as the case may be. Mayo Clinic.

Leukemia is rarely an insect bite, said Dr. Alice Mims, a hematologist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State University, who was not involved in Balla's case. . Prevention Magazine. But sometimes, cancer cells can get into the skin and give rise to an object that looks like an insect bite, the prevention group reported.

Balla was treated with chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. He subsequently had a relapse of cancer, but is now in remission, according to a statement from the Cleveland Clinicwhere Balla was treated.

Balla now advises men not to delay their visit to the doctor if they think something is wrong. "The time required to pass a medical examination could help prevent months of health problems," he said in a statement. "You may think that you do not have time for that, but it's not true, if you do not go to the doctor, you could have a much bigger problem."

Originally published on Science live.