Had blood work done yesterday It has been many years since I have had any done Right away the nurse and I noticed it was very black in color and very thick. And that was all she said. Then about 30 minutes later they wanted me to go back and have a pint of blood removed. Which I didnt do because by then it was  after my doctor was available & I would have had to go to the ER.  What is all this a sign or symptom of?Thanks for any info. Stacia
HI Dairy have read your query and by the \"black colored and thick blood\" I understand that your blood has a higher level of hemoglobin. Normally hemoglobin should be in the range of 12-14gm%. A little more than that up to 16gm% would not harm you in any way. But a significantly higher He level more than 16.5gm% or even higher may be of concern. Higher He levels are known as polycythemia which can be due to various reasons ranging from benign to malignant(cancerous) conditions. The doctor had asked to remove some amount of blood, that is known as phlebotomy. If I were your doctor, I would have asked you to do the following lab tests