Anemia and Milk

[tinhuviel]

Aunt Tudi and I both have anemia, which we already knew that, but we didn't know it was as bad as it was. While I was in the hospital, I was given iron via IV and told that I may have to have a transfusion if my red blood cell count didn't improve some after the iron transfusion. Thankfully, the iron helped me, and I was instructed to get on a strong iron supplement immediately. I haven't yet, but will as soon as I'm able to get the non-constipating iron that The Mother Unit suggested.

The last time Aunt Tudi was in the hospital, she wasn't even given the option of an iron transfusion. They just started pumping her full of blood while they set her up an appointment with a hematologist. Today, she went to see her new blood doctor, one Dr. Eric Nelson. He reminded me of a honey dew melon with arms and legs. Just a very cute little man, Dr. Nelson is. And the man knows his stuff. Only Vampires know as much about blood as this man. I was mightily impressed.

Of course, they drew blood and did labs on Aunt Tudi before she saw the doc, so he could get an idea of what he was dealing with before he talked to Aunt Tudi. He came in and told her, after looking at her blood under a microscope. He told us that Aunt Tudi's blood was not only low in red blood cell count, but also in white blood cells, which may explain how she can catch a minor head cold and almost die from it. She asked him about her platelet count because they'd mentioned in the hospital that her platelet count was low. He kind of smiled sidewise and said, "Well, Ms. Evans, normal platelet count is usually 180,000 to 250,000. From what I saw, your count is running about 19,000."

Double Yew
Tee
Eff

Dr. Nelson believes that it's the methotrexate that has messed Aunt Tudi's blood so badly. He saw no signs that would point to any kind of leukemia, so he doesn't think we need to worry about anything quite so serious, but he has taken Aunt Tudi off the methotrexate permanently, and he hasn't out-ruled a bone marrow test just to be on the safe side of things. In the meantime, he wrote up an order to schedule her for a couple of transfusions of iron, and he wants to see her in two weeks for more blood work to see if her blood levels have gotten any better since she's been off the methotrexate. If he sees no improvement, a bloo,aod marrow test is definitely going to happen. Whatever else the doctor has up his sleeve, I guess we'll find out if we have to cross that bridge.

So, on the way home, I spied a mosquito floating about in the car and told Aunt Tudi about it, although she usually doesn't have to worry about such things. Blood-sucking creatures like mosquitoes always go after me over anyone or anything else. Surprisingly, a few minutes later, Aunt Tudi piped up and said "Well, that mosquito just bit me on the back of the neck."

"What? You're kidding me! Mosquitoes always bite me first."

"Well, not this time," Aunt Tudi groused.

"Hm. With your blood, the mosquito must be on a diet."

Aunt Tudi laughed. It was then we equated our blood to milk that people drink depending on their diet. Since we're both anemic, neither one of us have the equivalent of whole milk. We decided that I have 2% blood and Aunt Tudi has skim blood.

And who knew mosquitoes needed to watch their weight?

Comments

[sapphirescarlet.livejournal.com]

Wow. It sounds like a really strong med. I hope taking her off of it does the trick. RA is nothing to mess with.