Unlike Me

Well…

this is totally unlike me, but I’m going to air some pretty personal stuff here.

I guess I should explain I’ve been dealing with some health things: tiredness, swollen feet, swollen hands, muscle pain (which I almost always have). Back in August, I went to the emergency room to have the swelling tested in case I had a blot clot.

Turns out I did not, but they found I was anemic. They said this was normal for women who are still menstruating age. Normal red blood count is 12-15, mine was 10.

It’s now November. I told my dad I felt like crap. Specifically: I’m always out of breath and my heart is racing/fluttering, I’m tired, and I cannot exert myself at all. He pointed out it could be the anemia I had. I saw a regular doctor and told him my concerns. I also told him I wanted to know what kind of anemia I had. He put me on mega doses of iron and took labs.

The next Tuesday, the day after Veteran’s day, he calls me and says my labs came back as a 7 and he wanted me to come in for more “rush” tests to make sure I didn’t go any lower. I took the blood tests that afternoon.

That night, 11 pm, the phone rings. It’s the doctor on call for my doctor’s office. The lab had run my blood: 6.1. They needed me to go to the hospital right away for blood transfusions.

So Jarrod and I went to the nearest hospital which was… I am not joking.. a hellhole. Six hour wait, they said. I’ve never seen a hospital so bad. The triage nurse actually yelled at me. “Are you aware you have a 101 fever?!” “What do you mean, you don’t know why you are anemic?” “What was I asking you again?”

At this point the orderly comes by and mentions they have blood and vomit all over the floor. I said “I have to go,” refused treatment and made Jarrod drive me an hour away to get to Hoag Hospital. No wait, they got me in and after some quick labs, I was being given 2 units of blood. They said I matched the white sheets.

Then I was admitted to the hospital. Some tests later, they said I was not making red blood cells. To make a long story short, I spent two and a half days in the hospital, received 4 blood transfusions, a bone marrow biopsy (Ow.) and I’m awaiting results to determine if I have a rare marrow disease or… well, you know. Or you could guess.