Is painful biopsy necessary for ex-smoker?

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 60-year-old female. After smoking for 40 years, I was finally able to stop. Now I suffer from many illnesses caused by my smoking — emphysema, asthma, COPD and bulla disease.

My white blood count has been high for years, and a year ago I was referred to an oncologist, who promptly performed a bone-marrow biopsy. My count has been in the 15,000 to 17,000 range but never higher than 22,000. The oncologist wants to do another biopsy. He doesn’t say exactly what he is looking for but implies that it might be leukemia.
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