....leukemia?

how do doctors test for leukemia? and how long does it take to get the test results??

A blood test would be the first step. They will do a complete blood count, differntial white blood count, a chem panel, and possibly acouple others. If the doc office has their own lab, it only takes 30mins to an hour.. if they have to send out, could take upwards of a week.
Next step would be a blood smear, where they actually look at the blood cells by hand under a microscope. If they have their own lab, only takes about an hour.
Third step and official diagnosis to determine treatment protocal is bone marrow biospy and aspirate. This is where they take a sample of your bone marrow and chip off a peice of your bone. From this point the smear the marrow, im not sure how they test the bone, but they also do dna and cytogenic testing.

Usually blood tests

complete blood count,bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.Usually theyll get preliminary result after 2-3 days

They do blood tests then a bone marrow aspiration if they still suspect leukemia.When my son was diagnosed with ALL they were pretty sure it was leukemia from his initial blood tests because all his counts were very low. the next day they did the bone marrow (after having to give him blood and platelets). We got the results that day as far as knowing it was leukemia and the next day for knowing exactly what type. the doctor had already told us he was positive it was leukemia before the bone marrow test though since they found leukemic cells in his peripheral systems (blood). either way you should know pretty fast.