Today I had my appointment with the Hematologist. For those of you that arn't aware of what that is it is a blood doctor. Its a little late but i got blessed with a Chiari headache earlier and felt like i was going to throw up from the brain shakes I was getting. Anyway, I had to go see him before my brain surgery because my blood tests from a few months ago came back that I was pretty anemic. My Neurosurgeon wanted to clear it with him that I was safe for surgery. I went yesterday and got my blood drawn again and went i first got to my appointment today I asked for a copy of those results. I compared them to my old test results and was shocked to see that my levels were much higher. I told myself that i wasnt a doctor and to wait until I saw one to get excited. It was a sad place to be. So many men and women in the waiting room were there battling leukemia and other serious and life threatening blood disorders and i felt guilty. I felt guilty because i felt bad for myself when i found out I had Chiari. As i sat in that room flipping though a pamphlet of wigs and women's hats to hide the hair loss from the cancers treatments I felt lucky. I was thankful. I waited for an hour to see the doctor and when i got there they brought me back and weighed me. (123lbs by the way.... WhoHoo only 3 lbs to go!) Anyway, They took my blood pressure which was somewhere around 110/60-something. Next was my height... 5'5". I was then brought back to a room overlooking the new highway they just built. The Doctor came in and sat down and went over my blood test results. He saw that I was pretty anemic and wanted to do an exam. He had me sit on the table and listened to my breathing, next he had me lay back and listened to my heart, felt my stomach and my neck. Then they had me sit back up and told me I could go sit back in the chair. Thanks to my Chiari I was so dizzy from everything that i stumbled back to my chair as if i was drunk. It took a few seconds for the room to stop spinning and for me to realize the Doctor was talking to me. The doctor then asked what I had tried for the anemia. I told him that I had taken oral iron supplements and had awful side effects from them so it wasn't an option. He then said the next step would be an iron infusion. I panicked. I had read horror stories about those. I heard they caused awful bone pain for days afterwards and that many people were actually allergic to what they were injecting. He said if that didn't work than I would have to have a blood transfusion. The doctor told me that he wanted me to get my blood drawn before I left so he could check the Iron levels since it had been so long. I said, "well, what about yesterday's tests?" He said "you had your blood drawn yesterday... I dont have those results in my computer." I showed him the print out and he was amazed. I was no longer anemic. He said that i must have been eating foods high in iron because that is the only way you get iron into your body. What he doesn't know is that i dont eat anything with Iron (well, besides chocolate). I hardly eat vegetables and I do not eat red meat unless I have to which is very rare. I take an herb called Maca root. It fixed me. I was cleared for surgery and have a follow up in 3 months. I feel extra lucky tonight!
Next appointment before surgery therapy. Yes I see a therapist and she seems to makes dealing with this easier. She is a continuous reminder that I am strong. Ill update again after my appointment with her and after that is my appointment with my Dentist to fix a cracked tooth I have. I wouldnt want to have tubes down my throat during surgery and have something crack my tooth more and wake up with head, neck AND tooth pain ;)
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