Be Happy

Be Happy
Watercolor by Renee Locks, from Brush Dance

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Iron






Iron rich foods suddenly became important to me when my treatment was postponed because my red blood cell count was suddenly too low. A sense of humor wouldn't hurt:

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Setback

The latest set of lab tests show that I am anemic. Since the treatment can cause or exacerbate anemia, it has to be put off until ferrous sulfate supplements bring my count of red blood cells back up. Meantime, I have to have colonoscopy to rule out the possibility of internal bleeding, as from ulcers. I've already had endoscopy, which works from the other end of the digestive tract.

It takes a minimum of one month to normalize the blood count. It can take three months. So, it will be one to three months before I start treatment, IF I start. Oh, well, I wasn't going anywhere. Maybe I'll feel better with more iron.

In American Liver Foundation's newsletter, I just read that several cases of Hepatitis C are being blamed on a clinic in Nevada which reused needles. It may be impossible to be sure that's the origin. 76,000 former patients are being contacted and advised to be tested for HCV. How could this happen today?