Tales of Anemic Girl... An Update
hello again, it’s me.
just thought i’d update everyone on my current condition... right now i feel ok, but other times i feel achy, like i’m coming down with the flu. sometimes i have a sore throat, other times i have joint pains. my heart still beats fast and skips, but not as often as before. i suppose it’s all related—and all inflammatory.
yesterday morning, i saw my Rheumatologist, Dr. Sandra Sesssoms. i had my blood taken for testing the day before so she would have the results. so far, my hemoglobin is at 10 (normal range is 12–16), and the marker for inflammation was like 2.8 or so. when i was in the hospital, it was more like 9.4. so it seems that my numbers are coming up and going down, respectively, but they are still out of the normal ranges.
a few things are still uncertain; i guess namely what exactly is “wrong” with me. Dr. Sessoms thinks that what i had was a virus that went on too long, and i couldn’t quite fight it on account of my anemia. what is still a mystery from my first hospitalization was the presence of schistocytes on my blood smear, or fragmented or destroyed red blood cells. apparently, something (ie, my spleen) was chewing them up and spitting them back out.
the other mystery is my pericardial effusion, which i still have. the cause could be from a virus, or from the inflammation. i’m not in any real danger though, so that’s good to know. i do feel a lot better after the transfusion, and it feels like my heart is more cushioned from the blood.
in about a week, i’ll be giving more blood... and they’ll be checking my immunoglobin levels—there may be a reason why i’m always the Sick Kid. the week after that, i have a follow-up visit with my Hematologist, so hopefully i’ll finally find out what kind of anemia i have, and if in the future i’ll need more transfusions or even a hormone shot that stimulates red blood cell production (something they give to cancer patients).
for now, i’m just taking it easy... in a few weeks, i’ll be traveling back to SF so i can pack up my things and say goodbye.
just thought i’d update everyone on my current condition... right now i feel ok, but other times i feel achy, like i’m coming down with the flu. sometimes i have a sore throat, other times i have joint pains. my heart still beats fast and skips, but not as often as before. i suppose it’s all related—and all inflammatory.
yesterday morning, i saw my Rheumatologist, Dr. Sandra Sesssoms. i had my blood taken for testing the day before so she would have the results. so far, my hemoglobin is at 10 (normal range is 12–16), and the marker for inflammation was like 2.8 or so. when i was in the hospital, it was more like 9.4. so it seems that my numbers are coming up and going down, respectively, but they are still out of the normal ranges.
a few things are still uncertain; i guess namely what exactly is “wrong” with me. Dr. Sessoms thinks that what i had was a virus that went on too long, and i couldn’t quite fight it on account of my anemia. what is still a mystery from my first hospitalization was the presence of schistocytes on my blood smear, or fragmented or destroyed red blood cells. apparently, something (ie, my spleen) was chewing them up and spitting them back out.
the other mystery is my pericardial effusion, which i still have. the cause could be from a virus, or from the inflammation. i’m not in any real danger though, so that’s good to know. i do feel a lot better after the transfusion, and it feels like my heart is more cushioned from the blood.
in about a week, i’ll be giving more blood... and they’ll be checking my immunoglobin levels—there may be a reason why i’m always the Sick Kid. the week after that, i have a follow-up visit with my Hematologist, so hopefully i’ll finally find out what kind of anemia i have, and if in the future i’ll need more transfusions or even a hormone shot that stimulates red blood cell production (something they give to cancer patients).
for now, i’m just taking it easy... in a few weeks, i’ll be traveling back to SF so i can pack up my things and say goodbye.
posted by sightofstars | 6:27 PM
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