[Beautiful_Pain]

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During my hospital stay, I got dx'd with RA and Significant anemia....which again, is better than the last time I had it. It was Severe then, the md told me then that I was lucky to wake up everyday =O

Have a dr appt for the 20th, will be letting my md know so I don't get so low again!

I have an appt with my rheumatologist Nov 2nd...will be starting meds for RA then =)
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Glad to hear its stabilizing for you I struggle with anemia too, and know how hard it is keeping those counts up where they belong. Right before I was diagnosed with Mucosis Associated Lymphocyitc Tissue Lymphoma (cancer) I was severely anemic (which led to early diagnosis of my cancer thankfully.) anyway we took care of the cancer and achieved remission but I was still severely amnemic. after many types of diet plans and vitiamins and iron supliments we finally found what works for me - the diabetic 2 diet plan. this plan lays out specific serving sizes and how many servings per day of each item in the food pyrmid for example basically what this plan does is the food is broken up into portions ate throuout the day so that constantly as the body uses the nutrients and so on they are being replaced just as fast. For example I am on 2000 calories a day. by catagory I get 9 servings of start, 4 servings of fruit, 3 servings of milk products 4 servings of vegetables 6 meat servings and 5 fat and sweet servings a day. for a typical day breakfast is one egg (one ounce meat serving) one slice of toast (one serving size starch) a half cup V-8 juice and one half cup of fruit juice. a couple hours later I have a yogert cup (one milk serving) one ounce slice of ham (one meat serving) two slices of bread (2 starch servings) a banana (one fruit serving) and either half cup v-8 again or one cup raw cut up carrots or celery sticks. This goes on every couple hours or so, with my picking one item and serving size from each catagory each time I eat so that nutrieants are constantly being taken as my body uses the supply. Sounds like I am eating alot. But I am actually losing weight by eating more becuase its being matabolized through out the day instead of the body storing it as fat reserves, and my blood counts have registered as normal each time since starting this diet plan. Though I have been known to slip off the diet for those mcdonalds and taco bell runs. Luckily I know that I have blood work every 6 months and by the time its time I am right where I should be. hang in there. you're coming up on those counts and thats all that matter the speed at which they come up don't matter, just that they do.

[(JD)]

Interesting... what level is "significant' and what is "severe" as I have anemia that they say I need infusion for, but they won't do it because I'm allergic to so much. Usually my hemoglobin is between 8.4 and 9.6... I don't think they ever ran any "cancer" tests... how did they happen to do that for you myself?

Y'all TC ya hear???

[Beautiful_Pain]

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I don't know my hemo count...just blood iron count.

This time it was 11 (normal is 35+) and was significant.

Last time it was 2 and was severe.

I didn't know which was the more 'important number'...but had but had prior experience with blood iron level, so remembered it
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[Beautiful_Pain]

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Wow, I've always just been put on prescription iron tabs for my anemia, Myself. I had no idea a diabetic menu would help =O I may have to ask my md about it tomorrow at my appt.

So glad you've had remission! Hope it stays that way =)
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[(JD)]

hmm ok. Oh , yeah I found the diet for diabetics would be most beneficial for me too... and I really fell into eating that way out of trial and error for how and when I felt better or worse I think it's called healthy eating...diet has such negative connotations.

Well I kept coming up anemic no matter what vitamins diet and my blood work showed an abnormal amount of white blood cells (Which means there is some kind of infection viral or bacterial or cancerous going on in the body) so on so my doctor First wanted to rule out ulcers.( If I had a cold (viral infection) coming up there was nothing he could do and I rarely get bacterial infections.) so he referred me to a gastroenterologist who did an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I had to go to an intake appointment where I met the doctor who would be doing the surgery (they consider these surgeries because it includes biopsy) and did paper work. Then I met with scheduling person (more paperwork) The day of the day before the appointment I was not allowed to eat anything but soups (Broth) I also had a quart of laxative mixture to drink (highly recommend the orange flavored over the cola you will never want to drink a cola soda after this) The morning of the appointment my therapist and I went to the gastroenterology department with the hospital. I checked in then sat down. With in 5 minutes a woman (it was really cool because this woman used to work for my doctors office but left to become a full nurse) came out of a room and I was take in there to one of the beds. She gave me a gown and I changed into it. While she asked me questions and filled in the chart another nurse was putting my arm in a warm blanket (helps with finding the right place to put in the Saline IV) Just as fast as they completed that I was wheeled into the exam room and hooked up to monitoring equipment for heart beat and so on. The doctor came in and put the versed and the other med into the Iv tube.

An endoscopy is when the person is put under a sort of anestesia (versed and another med that basically puts the person in avery relaxed state but yet aware enough to talk but not move. Basically I think of it like being a combo of hypnosis and paralyzed state of being. The meds are administered through a saline drip IV. When the person starts feeling sleepy a mouth guard with a hole in the middle is put in their mouth. They do this then so that the pseron is aware that something is in their mouth and also so that they can't close their mouth while being told to swallow and closing on the tube that contains the laproscopic camera and tube that allows them to but various "operation type equipment like the one they use to pump air in to the body and those used for biopsy) Once the person is relaxed to where they want the person to be they send the tube down into the esophagus adding air and taking pictues, and in some cases taking a biopsy (cut a small circle or tissue and suck it up through the tube and cauterize (burn) the area cut so that it no longer bleeds. Then they do the same with the stomach. adding air, taking pictures and if they see anything abnormal they take a biopsy of it. Then they enter the upper intestins (small intestins) and do the same thing. Once they have all the biopsies and pictures needed they remove the equipment and I was taken back in the first room to sleep off the meds.

The same thing happens for a colonoscopy only they enter the rectum, colon and large intestines.

Instead of having me come back for two appointments they did both the endoscopy and the colonoscopy the same day. While in my stomach looking for ulcers they found a patch of abnormal tissue. They took a biopsy of it and sent it to the lab. It was Helio Bacter Pyloria (a bacteria that once enters the body lives in the stomach lining and can lay dormant for years or the persons lifetime with no problems at all in other cases it decides to multipy and cause ulcer like problems and create Lymphoma. Which is a cancer desease that travels throughout the body by way of the lymph nodes.

If your white blood cell count is normal then you do not have a cancer. Which is why they didnt run those types of tests with you.

Thanks. been in remission now for two years it holds for seven I am considered cured. Im doing all I can to keep it that way. Good luck to you at your appointment.

I don't worry about my numbers either. just thet the docotr says they are up or down.

[(JD)]

wow thanks for all the good information... I would have trouble with lots of that ... guess that's one of the reasons I haven't bothered with either procedure

I had trouble going thats why my therapist went with me. When a doctor recommends these procedures its because something is definately wrong so for me it wasn't a matter of going through it or not. When my doctor who has known me for 11 years says go I go. The procedure its self is nothing because throughout the whole thing I was in a hypnotic relaxation type state and when I come out of it I remember nothing. Kind of like you see these shows where the character is hypnotized and they say in a creapy voice you will remember nothing LOL well when you go under versed you really remember NOTHING if the dosage is correct. The medication is also a pain killer type thing so you also don't feel any pain. This is why they require people to have someone else driving the person home and stay with them afterwards for 24 hours - so that the person with them can recognize if something is wrong cause the person will not register anything but slow motion I want to sleep feelings most of the next 24 hours.

For me the problem wasn't getting there and going through it. The problem was that I had been raped in a hospital so stepping into hospital settings brings panic attacks, flashbacks and high anxiety for me. in order for me to walk into the hospital my therapist went with me and was right there in the next room when I woke up.

If your doctor hasnt asked you to do one then there is no reason to even worry or think about bothering to do one. In the past couple years they have been avertizing that a certain age group should have at least one for a baseline but most doctors dont require one unless they see something pointing to things like ulcers and cancer. and with ulcers they usually try pepsid and other antacids first. like with me when that didn't work was when they went in.

these tests are the kind that if your doctor hasn't mentoned one you are fine