Skip to main content

No treatment required

Another person expressed some concern today, after my last post, that I may be starting treatment soon. Well, let me clear up any confusion. That isn't the case.

It's just I get into these moods every now and then, when I can't help but question how much longer can I be so lucky? Especially when I look at Edie, and so many others in similar situations to me. Why have I been so fortunate to be so active, and not require any treatment for over 8 years, despite having a terminal illness?

It just boggles my mind, and I find it difficult to believe it can go on much longer, but .............

Anyways, I had an appointment with my oncologist today to review my latest BMB and cytogenetic test results, and guess what? I have Mantle Cell Lymphoma.

Actually I knew that all along, but if you remember back in April, I posted how my new oncologist was convinced I had Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma. Well, he's now convinced otherwise.

We also discussed my low hemoglobin/fatigue, and if it is the result of iron deficiency, or just a manifestation of my lymphoma. He's convinced, based on the my ferritin levels in the blood, iron stores in the bone marrow, along with some other tests, that I am not iron deficient. [And I agree.] As further confirmation he also checked my haptoglobin levels which were actually higher than normal. It would have been low if I were iron deficient.

(We also discussed depression as a cause of fatigue, and suggested drugs, but I refused to go there!)

So I think it's safe to assume I'm not iron deficient, but if I wanted, he suggested I continue taking an iron supplement (65 mg of elemental iron per day), for another two months, and see if my hemoglobin increases any, as even more confirmation of that fact.

I'm gonna have to think about that for a bit though.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History IS repeating itself

I didn't grow up during the rise and fall of Hitler and Nazi Germany, so for me to claim it feels like those are the times we are living in now, must be taken with a grain of salt. But I have seen enough movies, and read enough history to know, if the times we're living in now are not akin to the rise of a Nazism and Facism in Europe in the 1930's and 1940's, then we're not far off. If you can't see the parallels with Nazi Germany, then you must be living in a different country than me. Republicans and other right wing extremists will stop at nothing to subvert the will of the majority, forcing their beliefs, that they are the superior race and have been appointed by God, to impose their will on America, while they blame all our problems on immigrants, blacks and Jews. As I speak, Mitch McConnell, and his minions are raising roadblocks to all legislation designed to help average Americans under the guise of fiscal responsibility. They condone violent and verba...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vaccine Mandates, what are they good for?

Not much, that's for sure! Simply showing evidence of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine (whether fake or not), does not mean you are protected from getting Covid-19, nor spreading it, if infected. We are all different, and too many of us, i.e. people who are immunocompromised/ immunosupressed, the elderly, or others for various reasons, do not [cannot] mount an immune response as good as younger and healthier individuals. What is evidence of immunity is a quantitative antibody test showing you have developed antibodies, and to what degree, either from natural immunity or the vaccine.  That is what we should be testing for. That is what is important. But for too long, many, i.e. the FDA, doctors, and other health experts discouraged people (and still are) from getting antibody tests, because there was little knowledge about what level of antibodies are needed to impart immunity to the virus. That of course is true, to some extent, but how can we ever find out [learn] the a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Open letter to all Democrats

Stop the nonsense! Continuing to go after Trump, without any hope of getting a conviction, does nothing more than provide Republicans with an obstructionist dialogue (now that they have come up with the unconstitutional talking point) in addition to giving Trump much needed publicity, when we should be ignoring him. It's the pure definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result! Instead Democrats need to be laser focused on what is important to all Americans, i.e. healthcare, Social Security and Medicare, infrastructure reform, the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, to name just a few. And when you do talk about Trump, simply steer the conversation as to how the Trump administration botched everything, how Trump is responsible for the deaths of 400,000+ Americans, due to his inaction and the down playing of the pandemic, plus the deaths of 2 Capitol policeman during the insurrection Trump provoked and incited on January 6, 2021. ...
Post a Comment
Read more