March 3, 2004-Nineteenth phlebotomy. Removed 500 mL.
March 30, 2004-Twentieth phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. Took iron test. Results--total iron 61, iron binding 266, saturation 23%, ferritin 429.9. Not bad, but looks like I still need to phlebotomize more. :o( My goal is for ferritin to get closer to 100. (But, not bad considering ferritin had gone above 2100 during my transfusion days. Saturation, total iron, and iron binding also look much better than they had been in the past and are actually in the normal range now). I also had a complete chemistry panel and all the numbers were in the normal range for the first time! :o) I noticed that my MCV is moving up a tad (wrong direction). Not sure why, hmmm. Well, I'll just keep an eye on it for the meantime.
May 3, 2004 - 21st phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. Uneventful.
June 3, 2004 - 22nd phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. Ferritin test taken. If the results are below 300, then we will move to CBC and phlebotomies every 3 months instead of the current every 4 weeks. The goal is to lower the ferritin to 100.
July 8, 2004 - 23rd phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. Ferritin test results -- 363.
August 4, 2004 - 24th phlebotomy. Removed 500mL.
September 8, 2004 - 25th phlebotomy. Removed 500mL.
September 10, 2004 - Results are in for iron and comprehensive panel! Ferritin is now within NORMAL parameters--234.3! Woo hoo! Normal ranges between 10-291. I still plan to phlebotomize a little more to get to around 100, but technically, I could stop. My doctor has suggested that I now go to every 3 months for phlebotomies instead of once every month! I might just do one more anyway next month since I already have that appointment scheduled. Hmmm. Maybe not! Ta ha!
October 6, 2004 - At today's doctor appointment, Dr. M. decided that my iron was well within normal range so that she did not feel that I need to have any further phlebotomies! Woo Hoo! So, no phlebotomy today! ALSO, next appointment will be in about 3 months time, and only a CBC and iron panel is scheduled to be done at that time. Woo Hoo, Woo Hoo! She ended our appointment with, "See you in 3 months. Have a happy New Year." Woo hoo! LOL I was first diagnosed with aplastic anemia in October 1999. Who would have thought that I would be essentially cured in October 2004. I feel a party comin' on! I'm actually going on a Mexican cruise in about 2 weeks! And YES, I will be partying on! Ha!
February 10, 2005 - Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Years! Gee, that greeting was a bit late since Valentine's is just right around the corner. . . It's been about 4 months since my latest CBC. I was a bit curious of this CBC because I started to supplement with some minerals about a month ago--zinc, magnesium, selenium, manganese, MSM, and a little flax/borage oil. In addition to the added minerals, I have been making a large glass fruit smoothie each morning with my breakfast to increase my vitamin C intake. I read some very interesting information regarding the benefits of vit C and coronary health in a book by Matthias Rath, M.D. called The Heart. Besides the fact that the adrenal glands need a good dose of vit C for proper functioning, I figured I'd give it a shot. The fruit smoothies are actually quite yummy, so I'm now addicted to them, heh. I'm currently using fresh organic oranges, kiwis, bananas, and pineapple with a little bit of water. Ummmm. Come summertime, I look forward to throwing in some strawberries, too! I wasn't sure if any of that would somehow affect my CBC. It might be too soon. But I can definitely say that my hands and feet are warmer (a possible sign of improved adrenal function and possibly thyroid function), and I think my blood pressure is good because I notice that I can go from a squatting position to standing rather quickly and not even get lightheaded. I used to get a little lightheaded doing that sometimes. And my skin feel noticeably softer. Hmmm. What's going on in there? LOL At today's doctor appointment I had a blood draw for a complete chemistry panel including B12, folate, iron/ferritin, T4, and lipids. I should get those results in the mail and don't have an appointment until 3 months from now. This is the first time for me to ever have my cholesterol checked. Hmmm. Curious. . . let's see if my daily 3-4 egg consumption is running havoc with me cholesterol levels.
February 21, 2005 - Got my chemistry panel results. There were a couple things off--potassium a tad low, but iron high again! Ack! Back to phlebotomies for me. Ugh. Not sure what happened there, but ferritin was back up at 433.4 at 50% saturation. Haven't had any more blood transfusions for over 3 1/2 years now, so maybe some deeper stored iron is surfacing? Hmm. Not sure. Everything else turned out fine even my cholesterol with all those eggs and extra fat I've been eating. Yippee! But, had another phlebotomy today of 500mL. Sigh. At least I can do it instead of having to use Desferal.
March 21, 2005 - Not much to report today. Just had the usual CBC with the results listed below and my usual 500mL phlebotomy.
April 20, 2005-Twenty
eighth phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. White count took a slight
dip--3.8,
ANC 2,000. Wah. Hgb still behaving quite nicely. Platelets hit another
high for me! 118K! Woo hoo! Have cut out the morning fruit smoothies.
Found out that that much fructose is hard on the liver. It has been
compared to the severity of alcohol to the liver. Yikes! I've gone
gluten-free and low carb to see if it will help my skin rashes. I'm
starting to suspect that it's detox again. I've been doing more
rebounding and deep breathing exercises to improve lymphatic flow and
have also been doing hot tub soaks in clay mixtures to facilitate some
sweating for detox through the skin. I think it is helping my skin,
finally. I had another ferritin test taken today. Hopefully I'll have
some good new soon.
May 4, 2005 - 29th
phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. Genetic testing came back negative for HH,
but apparently it's only 85% accurate for even caucasians and there is
recent information that Asians and Pacific Islanders may have a
different iron overload mutation not yet identified anyway, heh. So
basically, doc said that the test told me nothing. Hmmm. Wasted $
again. . . White count went back up to normal, yay! But differentials
are looking a little different. . . mid cells look more active. . .
Maybe all this lymphatic exercise I'm doing is stirring things about.
MCV is climbing again. . . Waz up wit dat? My B12 and folate levels are
normal, so it that doesn't seem to be the problem. Have done alittle
research on it and "maybe" I have malabsorption problems? eh? Chemistry
panel looked good except a tad low on potassium. . . Anyway, I've got a
lot of other things I'm working on that I don't have time to post here,
so maybe I'll find it and post later. Hopefully one day soon I'll be
happy to report that I'm "normal!" Unfortunately, that day is not
today. . . Although I feel and look normal. . . (so I think, ha!) In
the meantime, I've got an appointment to see about getting my amalgams
removed.
May 18, 2005 - 30th
phlebotomy. Removed 500mL. White count dipped again, and MCV is still
creeping up. I'm not too trilled about that. So, I've decided to back
off on the phlebotomies again to once every 4 weeks instead of once
every 2 weeks. So let's see how things go then.
June 15, 2005 - No
phlebotomy today, only a CBC and iron panel test. I want to see what my
iron count is before doing another phlebotomy. White count went back up
into the normal range.
August 27, 2005 -
