OT - SORT OF - Just When i Thought it was Safe to go Back in the Water...

So i got P C and was off the wall. 6 MONTHS after treatment i started to calm down, and BOOM - Coronary Artery Disease. Off the wall again. Finally the last month or so i started to calm down, and got comfortable with the possibility that i could live for a long time with CAD. Then BOOM! again.

Went to a hematologist two weeks ago, just a routine follow up as i run low normal end or just below, on my platelets. He did a lot of blood tests, just wanting to be safe. We all know that when you look for something you find it, and he did.
I have an iron deficiency. The most common cause of iron deficiency, in men, is bleeding from the digestive tract. So he is sending me for a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and capsule endoscopy which looks at the part of the digestive tract that the first two tests dont see. i have a consult with my gastro on Thursday. Until then, Xanax to the rescue, i guess. To make things more complicated, my PCP's PA is saying that no way can i go off Effient (very strong blood thinner that i take instead of plavix) because my stents were put in less than a year ago. So i dont know how thats gonna work. How does a gastro do a colo and endo with me on blood thnners and aspirin. I'm really afraid this isnt gonna end well.

Oh, on top of that, my ANA, a blood test for auto immune issues, came back showing i had auto immune problem of some kind. So i have to see a Rheumatoligist, to see if i have Lupus, and God knows what else.

64 years of never being sick ever. Now i think i have PTSD. Serious. Sick to my stomach
Thanks for letting me rant, i know this is not PC related. I think.

Pratoman,

When I was on a blood thinner (7 years on warfarin for a pulmonary embolism) they took me off of it for about a week each time I needed a "procedure" ( colonoscopy, tooth extraction, etc.).

They always figure out a work around. Your in good hands.

Best wishes.

Prat, that really sucks. It really seems like if you pull one bad health card out of the deck that should be it, but sadly life doesn't work that way. Good luck to you on going through all of this and hope everything resolves itself in the best way possible.

When one has a high mileage body, every system just falls apart. They're developing a body transplant procedure. It seems like the way to go - just put one's head on a new body.

- Allen

Daaaamn brother, just daaaamn.

Sonny

Hey Prato,
Get your butt in the water and swim like mad, my friend. I agree with Bolo. You can manage all of these medical issues if you think you can. Hopefully you'll find that there aren't any significant issues, but keep fighting and have faith!
Beth

Prato,

I was thinking the same thing about Logo/Bolo. That was incredible, I understood every line and loved it all.
And he is right. Hang in there.

Carl

A year ago, I was feeling really sick and it turned out to be anemia that was making me feel this way. I'm not going to go into what was eventually found as the source problem for me, because it's so rare and scary that it wouldn't help you at all.

But, while GI bleeding is the most common cause of anemia and low iron in men, it's far from the only cause. I had the upper endoscopy done. That is usually done to check for celiac disease and look for other obvious causes of blood loss, such as a stomach ulcer. If signs of an ulcer are found, they may also do a biopsy for H. Pylori.

I was scheduled for the colonoscopy when we found the real cause, and we cancelled the colonoscopy. But, it's an obvious starting point beyond blood tests.

How was your iron measured? Just serum iron? I think you should get the rest of the iron tests. Are you anemic? If so, there are other tests in the CBC/Diff that can tell your doctor more about the details of the anemia.

If you are anemic, have you tried an iron saturation test? This tells you whether or not your body is absorbing iron well. If your body isn't absorbing iron, you may be able to do iron infusions until you find the cause of the non-absorption.

Hopefully, they will find a quick and simple cause, and you will be back on track. Mine dragged out for months and ended up being one of those really rare thing not even considered up front. And, I'd been tested for a lot of rare stuff before we got my answer.

Best of luck.


Damon

Pratoman, I think I see your main most problem, the one that leads to/causes all the other problems: you simply must get hold of yourself and stop all of that "finally calming down". Haven't you noticed a pattern, and what happens each and every time you calm down? Cause and effect! Very obvious!

Prat:

Remember, if you can keep your head and remain calm when everyone around you is in a panic....perhaps you don't fully understand the situation!

Mel

The more I read on the internet about high ANA test results, and reasons for low iron in men, the more nervous I become.
So I guess it's good to read on the Internet.

So confused.

What is you hate swimming?

Then that can be stressful.

Mel

Boom I am expecting the boom to hit any day now. I just turned 70 and other than PC nothing is wrong with me. I get heart palpitations every once in a while, but I have a heart murmur. So boom, its going to happen cause you cannot get out of this life alive. Boom!