Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Now, I wait (again)

I had my third iron infusion this morning.  I really like them because they take a while and I get a nice nap while it's happening.  The nurses are also incredibly nice.  Part of this is because I'm one of their healthier patients.  They are an infusion center and administer a lot of chemotherapy to very sick patients.  So, they work to have a happy face for all of their patients, but I'm sure a lot of it is for the cancer patients.

I got my final report from the procedure yesterday, with an all-clear there.  They did say that pathology is still planning to rule out celiac disease.  I thought they were doing more than that with the biopsy, but if not, there isn't much more to be learned.  The nurse told me she doesn't remember a patient with no transglutaminase antibodies who ended up diagnosed with celiac disease, although the opposite can happen.  So, the odds of the biopsy finding anything are slim.

In two weeks, I see the hematologist again.  We will measure all sorts of things that day and talk about the path forward.  If my hemoglobin is a lot better, we will probably continue with the iron infusions until I'm back at a normal level again.  If it's not better, I have no idea what's next.

I'm also curious if this will end up being definitively solved, of if I'll simply recover and never know exactly what happened.  In some ways, I'd prefer to know, but there are still too many (rare and nasty) reasons out there, and I don't want any of them to be at fault.  Things like bone marrow biopsies are procedures I'd prefer to avoid.  So, maybe a recovery and a mystery would be OK.

It's hot again today, but I'm hoping to try CrossFit tonight.  I am not tolerating the heat very well, but if I take it easy, I might be OK for a moderate workout.

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