Iron Deficiency Anemia

Howdy!

A lot of people have been concerned and asking questions about why I eat ice, and why I have to get iron infusions, and why don't I just change my diet, and why don't I just take iron orally, and why don't I do this that or the other to keep my iron levels up....

Well the simple answer is, none of it works. But before I get ahead of myself let me explain what iron deficiency anemia is and why I have it.

What is Iron Deficiency Anemia?

This is when the blood does not have adequate healthy red blood cells, and red blood cells carry oxygen to the body.

As the name implies, iron deficiency anemia is due to insufficient iron. When your body does not have enough iron your bloody can't produce enough of a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen, and as a result of iron deficiency anemia may leave you tired and short of breath.

Why do I have it?

The reason I personally have iron deficiency anemia is because when I am bleeding due to all of my other medical problems with my uterus, I'll lose it so much blood that might body can't replenish itself as quickly as I am depleting it. So in other words I bleed to so much that it makes me sick.

In the past, this has gotten so bad to the point of needing blood transfusions. I had one at age 15 and again at age 22. My doctors try to prevent these incidences from happening by giving me IV iron, but sometimes it is unavoidable.

My symptoms:

- Extreme Fatigue: Sometimes I can't walk more than a few steps without feeling like passing out.
- Weakness: I simply can't hold things that are heavy and its as if my arms and legs are asleep.
- Pale Skin: self explanatory.
-  Shortness of Breath: I will have to stop and catch my breath after walking out to my car to get something and coming back inside.
- Lightheadedness and dizziness: I feel like I need to sit down in order to be aware of my surroundings.
- Cold hands and feet: I am really just cold ALL the time!
- Unusual cravings of non-food items such as ICE: I always have a big cup of ice with me, it doesn't matter if it is freezing outside, I feel the CONSTANT need to eat ice.
Poor Appetite: I can miss a few meals and not notice... this is probably the worse one, because if you are lightheaded and feel like passing out and your not eating it can be even worse for your body.

Diagnosis:

The way I was diagnosed was by many blood tests.

Treatment:

Most people can control their iron levels with either a change in their diet or by taking iron pills orally, however sadly for me, these are not options. The reason why is because as I stated before, I deplete my iron supply faster than I can inn take it. Even if I am taking iron orally leading up to the bleeding, it isn't enough to counter act what I am loosing. For example, leading up to my surgery my doctor had me on iron for about a month and a half, when they did my blood work for my surgery my levels where okay. After my surgery, and recovery, I had started bleeding and needed to get tested again, so the drew blood. my iron level was at a 4ng/mL! A 4ng/mL! "Low" is considered to be between 12ng/mL and 18ng/mL, this is measured as nanograms per millilter, and "normal" is between 18ng/mL to 150ng/mL. When my doctor got these results she said she was surprised that I was walking, and that I had not passed out yet.

So, I get IV Iron. Basically I have to go in 3 times a in one week and get a unit of iron pumped into my arm. This takes about 2hrs per treatment and makes me feel like poop! I get horrible headaches, chest pain, shortness of breath, upset stomach, nausea, and constipation. Sometimes getting the iron makes me feel worse than I did before I had it, but after a few days my body regulates itself and I am able to feel better. However, I am supposed to start getting iron treatments once a month again. So this means I go in the times in one week, every 3 weeks. Which is time consuming, and EXPENSIVE! But ya gotta do what ya gotta do to be healthy! Right?!?

So, that is why I eat ice, all the time, I am sorry if it is annoying, trust me I don't like it either, but I can't help it! The nurse at my last infusion asked me if I needed anything to drink then she realized I had a cup and she asked what was in it, I responded with ice, and she laughed and asked if I wanted a refill! It's a real thing y'all I promise! And if the people at the Cancer Center are the only ones who get it, that's fine by me!

I think that that wraps up this post. I am sure I forgot something so if you have any questions about this, or anything else let me know!

Again thank you for your love and support on this journey!

As always if you ever need to contact me please feel free to via email teasha.adams@gmail.com or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/teasha.adams91 and of course you can leave a comment down below.

Remember that when life gets hard, keep moving forward and...

Always Smile!

Post Surgery Updates and Results

Howdy!

I have been getting a lot of questions the last few weeks about how I am doing, how the surgery went, and what the results of the surgery were. I am going to attempt to answer these questions as well as I can, but please understand that I am still processing this information and so if it come all jumbled up that is why. Also, this will be a long post and it will have detail, so if you don't wanna know, just like before, stop reading now.

How am I feeling?

If I am being honest I am feeling pretty terrible. The surgery itself wasn't too horrible, I felt pretty good the day of, and then a two days later I was in pain and I was feeling light headed and it was not good. As a result, I pretty much just slept for a week straight. I was only eating oatmeal and soup, becuase I was not having regular bowel movements. I started having bleeding problems and was loosing blood about a week and a half after surgery and this started to worry me. It was not only blood clots but it was extremely painful and paralyzing. I spoke to the doctor and he wanted me to just take it easy and wait to see him a few days later.

How did the surgery go?

Up until this past Wednesday, Dec. 14th, I did not know how the surgery has gone. Obviously, it had gone well enough for me to be released to go home, but other than that I had no idea until I had my post-op appointment. That being said, the surgery took a bit longer than expected, it was supposed to only be an hour and it wound up being 3 hours. But according to the doctor, it all went well, however it did not fix any problems, but it did answer questions.

What were the results of the surgery?

Now here is the fun part, they found quite a few different things that were weren't Necessarily expecting. I will say what was found and then explain what it is, In then I will explain how it's supposed to be treated. The order of there are what we are least worried about to most worried about. Two of the three are found inside the uterus and the third is found on the outside, which I will explain better below, but just remember 1 is slightly worried and 3 is very worried.

1. Uterine polyps: These happen when the cells in the lining of the uterus becomes overgrown and can be the size of a sesame seed to the size of a golf ball. These polyps can cause multiple problems, for me they are the following;

Irregular menstrual bleeding: basically this means that I have frequent and unpredictable periods of the variable link and heaviness.

Bleeding between menstrual periods: and This means that I pretty much pleaded whenever enter however long, Which means that I don't actually have a quote on quote period, which are excessively heavy and painful.

 The doctor found quite a few polyps and was able to remove them, however they are most likely to return base on how many I had and the severity of them. The polyps are estrogen-sensitive, which means the grow in response to circulating estrogen. He said that now that he knows they are there it will be easier to treat and keep on eye on.

2. Endometriosis: This is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus grows on the outside of your uterus. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries Fallopian tubes in the tissue lining your pelvis. This tissue is hormone based, this means that just like when the tissue in your uterus sheds, the displaced tissue continues to act as it normally would --  it thickens, breaks down, and pleads with each menstrual cycle.  Because this displays tissue has no way to exit your body it becomes trapped.

For me, the endometriosis was on my ovaries, pelvic tissue, and intestines. This explains the immense amount of pain I am in every time I am bleeding. Endometriosis also causes many other problems such as, pain with bowel movements, excessive bleeding, and infertility. Since my case is on the more severe case we have to also keep an eye on this, which is harder to do since it is in my abdomen. The doctor was able to burn most of the endometriosis off and out of the pelvic cavity, however this is a chronic illness and will come back.

3. The third and final thing that they found doesn't really have a medical name like the others. When inside the uterus, they found a large mass of abnormal mutated cells, they was it was explained to me was that the cells have mutated 6 times with in the mass, so basically it is a six layered cake of mutated cells. The doctor did a biopsy of the tissue and sent it to pathology. When I saw him he explained to me that he has never seen this in a patient my age, the youngest person he's ever seen and was 49. He asked for my consent to send my case to other doctors to see if he could get a better opinion of what to do next. Because with his older patients, He would just do a full hysterectomy and call it good. However since I am so young, he doesn't necessarily want to do this because it will mess with my hormones. So right now I am kind of playing the waiting game. My doctor told me what he thinks are the options, however he wanted to see you play other doctors had in mind to see if they could have better options. Since once again this tissue and the cell growth is it based on on The lining of the uterus and hormones, we have to do something or it will continue to grow. These are the options I have as of right now: 

    1. a medication that will put me in a menopausal State so that the lining of the uterus will stop    growing.

    2. A D&C ( dilation and curettage) This  would be be burning the lining of the uterus is that it would no longer grow. 

   3.  Hysterectomy. This is the complete removal of the uterus.

 Nothing has been decided yet, and I won’t be deciding anything until after the first of the year.  This tissue is very complex and it is high-risk. The more it grows the worse it will become, so we HAVE to be on top of this and make sure that it is under control.

 I know many of you are now very concerned about me and what is going to happen, But please don’t be. I am somewhat at peace with this. The day I found out about all of this, I was angry. The doctor said this surgery should have been done five years ago, and all of this would’ve been avoided. No other doctor wanted to treat my problems because of my age, And look at where it led to, But it is okay.

 I know that Heavenly Father is in control, and that His plan is greater than mine.  He has this under control, and as long as I am holding onto my hope and my testimony nothing can shake me.

 As for the game plan right now, I went and saw my hematologist, blood doctor, and I have to once again get iron infusions. My levels of hemoglobin and iron have dropped far below where my doctor is comfortable so we have to get those numbers up, And then I will not feel so faint and lightheaded. This should help me out quite a bit and after we get that fixed we will move on and if make a larger game plan. My next infusion is on Tuesday and I will post to Facebook/Instagram how that goes.

 I know many of you have have questions comments and concerns, but please know that I am still wrapping my head around all of this so keep that in mind when he you message text or comment to me. 

 I appreciate everyone’s love and and support and prayers. They have been greatly needed and I know that they have helped me be at peace.

 That is all for now I will post more, when I know more. Love y’all!

 Always smile!

Teasha