My dad was a general surgeon in southern California (and WWII surgeon) and late in his career he was diagnosed with lymphoma and was scheduled for surgery to remove his spleen and several suspicious lymph nodes…this would be the early 80s and my dad was in his early 60s…
He sought a second opinion from a hematologist at USC in Los Angeles…he looked at the studies and said he was not sure. He said when he has questions, he sends patients to a chap at UCSD.
My mom and dad I drove down to San Diego and my dad spent much of the day there…my dad said it was the best physical exam he had ever had…in the end, the physician said, I do not know what has caused your leukopenia but one thing I do know is that you do not have lymphoma….as you might imagine, a major surgery was avoided.