We'll call him Henry the Hemoglobin Molecule.
About a week ago I started to feel dizzy quite often. Soon, shortness of breath developed. Then spots developed before my eyes. Then the ringing in my ears.
I've not been my usual cheery self. My hemoglobin fell to 8.9, my hematocrit is a little over 26%. Functioning in a reasonable fashion has fallen by the wayside. It's all I can do to get my cups of ice and dizzily trip to my bed, 'read' Green Eggs and Ham with Soren -- fortunately I memorized it by age 4, and cheer on Petra as she reads to me from Ramona and Her Father. I can't tolerate the oral iron very well, I can't tolerate this degree of anemia, I can't stay awake, I can't fall asleep let alone stay asleep, I can't go function at work and I can't afford to stay home. I have no energy for tears. If you can believe it, I can't even muster the energy to plan out my next donut run.
I did have enough of a burst of energy to attend the opening night of High School Musical 3 with Lars and the kids. It was super. I love that stuff. I even danced a little in the parking lot with Soren. We all laughed at me, belly-on-legs shaking my droopy white-girl tushy. It's a good thing.
Trying a different Rx called Repliva. It already made me barfy after just the first dose. If the Repliva continues to be problematic (or possibly in addition to it) then the next step is iron transfusions, if that doesn't work then we'll move toward blood transfusions. Though my last ultrasound on Tuesday went very well (baby weighs over 4-1/2 lbs and fluid index is 12), I worry about how she is managing with potentially compromised O2 perfusion. I deeply and ardently hope that little Ultimette is handling her oxygen-poor home well. We all love her so darn much.
2 comments:
Many prayers for yours and Ultimette's health. You're in the homestretch with her, I can be there on relatively short notice if need be (well, unless I get picked for a jury when I go to jury duth on Monday). The Blanders are at your service.
Ugh, low iron. On the plus side, 12cm is awesome! That's a great volume!
When we were struggling with Sanna's microcytic anemia, we were given iron polysaccharide liquid. It wasn't particularly foul, and it was really pretty tolerable when mixed up with some Rice Dream and cinnamon -- horchata style. If you're not tolerating the Repliva and you haven't tried the polysaccharide, it might be worth a shot.
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