« Blood Trouble = Rear Trouble | Main | Flu Joys »
February 10, 2005
DocTor T'ings
Well, I went to my third doc's appointment today, had my blood slide done again.
Things are looking better, but my white blood cell count is still down. We were able to see more because the Blood Sludge has officially settled into Typical Rouleau. This is what we discovered:
1. Infection: I do not have nearly as much fungal or bacterial matter in my blood stream, but it is still present. I have gone from a +4 down to a +2.
Getting Better Rating: Good.
2. Blood Sludge: My Blood Sludge has now officially gone down into Typical Rouleau, so now while there are some big ol' masses, mostly it's just strings of connected red blood cells. The doc is concerned, however, because it should have been cleared up after three weeks, and isn't. She's having me finish out on my one med and starting me on a new one immediately thereafter. Rouleau has gone down from a +4 to a +3.
Getting Better Rating: Good/neutral.
3. Spicules (Liver problems): The spicules in my blood have gone down from +4 to a +2.5. The doc is concerned about this as well, and said that there should have been greater reduction. Part of the three things she gave me today is supposed to help with this. Apparently, my spicules should have gone into 0.
Getting Better Rating: Good/neutral.
4. Anemia: Originally, the Doc could only conclude that I have a +3 for B-12 anemia. B-12 anemia looks like squished, almost banana shaped blood cells (not all of them) under the microscope. This has not become any better, and she explained that it would take 6 months for actually any difference to be made, because it is not an overnight process. Furthermore, now that my blood cells are separating enough to take a closer peek, she's noticed that I also have a slight (+1) Iron-based anemia. This shows when your red blood cells are different sizes from each other. I have been instructed to start incorporating meat into my diet (chicken, fish, and red meat). I'm not a traditional vegetarian, I just don't eat much meat. It takes a while to cook properly and with any taste, and diet-wise it's difficult to eat red meat and not gain weight. But ok. She insisted it's better than getting liver injections, and I believe her.
Getting Better Rating: Neutral
5. Misc. Foo:
A. Copper: We can now see (again, because we could get my blood separated just enough to take a real look at things) that I have copper in my blood stream - an excess as it were. Apparently that's typical of people who live in the valley, because it's common in the water supply (due to surrounding mines and natural minerals, etc.) and can't be filtered out through a simple faucet water filter. She didn't express concern.
B. Legs: My leg problem has returned, though not throughout the whole leg. She's concerned about this, because there's a posibility of oxidization happening in my body, and she's not sure what the source is. She's put me on some powerful anti-oxidant something or other to help clear it up. If the symptoms aren't gone by the time I return, then we're going to have to do tests. In the mention, oxidizing occurs when there are cancer problems. The liver problems might be linked. I'm not terribly worried yet.
C. Instructions: Still on a no alcohol diet, which means I can't have the glass of 1995 Special Reserve Silver Oak Cabernet Savignon I've been saving up for the special occasion of getting a new job for at least another two months. Pill instructions I won't go into. She said that it's natural that I'm on a rollercoaster of energy right now, and to expect it to continue for a while.
NV (Next Visit): 4 March 2005
We'll be taking another sample of blood. We're still waiting for me to start my new job and my insurance to kick in before doing any real blood work (allergy tests, hormone tests, symptomatic tests, etc.) If things aren't cleared up by then, those tests and a few others, including an MRI, are in order.
Posted by Kelli Little at February 10, 2005 12:26 PM