rbent Forum - You know that joke about too much blood in your

Opus the Poet

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You know that joke about too much blood in your
Aug 23^rd, 2007, 5:52pm

I just got back from an unscheduled visit with my Dr over my last blood work. To be succinct, I'm anemic, to the point the doc describes it as being "a couple of pints low". We can't figure out where the blood is going, the doc suspects GI bleeding but I don't have any symptoms of that. In fact I don't have any of the "normal" symptoms of anemia, my BP is normal, my rest pulse is 45, and my endurance is above average, the last bike ride I did was a quick 20 miles in the evening after doing 10 in the morning, in 100+ F temperatures. The only problem I had was some chafing from my cotton shorts. So I'm not feeling tired or anything like that.

For those who know what the numbers mean, when I last donated blood at the end of June my Hematocrit was 30, last week it was 18.

Opus

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Bud_Bent Moderator Posts: 3310	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #1 - Aug 23^rd, 2007, 6:19pm That's very strange. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious.
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FlyingLaZBoy Moderator '16 ICE SprintX fs, '16 Rocket, '12 KHS Mocha Posts: 5803	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #2 - Aug 26^th, 2007, 6:53pm ...and you went up to HHH like this??? No WONDER you cratered... Sorry, pal!!!!!
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Richard rbent member Posts: 480	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #3 - Aug 27^th, 2007, 10:19am John, It was good to see you at the HHH. Hope all works out for good with the blood thing. Whip those corpusles into shape!
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Opus the Poet Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 1353	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #4 - Aug 27^th, 2007, 1:01pm With all the money and time I put into getting to the HHH there was no way I was going to wuss out and stay home. I was going to ride or die trying. Well, almost anyway, I'm not that stupid Opus
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #5 - Aug 30^th, 2007, 11:46am

Here's the news about my blood just prior to the HHH, from my doctor visit yesterday. I lost another point of 'crit between the visit 2 weeks ago at 18 hematocrit and last week at 17 hematocrit. What's more disturbing is the cells I do have have a lower than normal amount of hemoglobin. Even more fun, trying to get enough blood out of my arm to run another series of tests required "milking" the vein to force out the blood. And I get winded just walking the half mile from my house to the bus stop, and I'm doing a lot of yawning trying to keep a little extra O2 in my blood.

Good times...

Opus

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aikigreg Moderator recumbent ninja Posts: 3685	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #6 - Aug 30^th, 2007, 6:51pm OMG...that's a whole new level of sucking right there. Hope it's something small. Now, go eat some liver, stat!~
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #7 - Sep 5^th, 2007, 8:02pm

UPDATE this morning I got the latest report on my blood drawn last Wednesday. Hematocrit and hemoglobin are still down, but no lower than the previous test. Translation my red cells are more of a dark pink, and I don't have enough of them anyway. I went to the library and climbing out of the basement almost passed out, I got very dizzy. The really good part is I have stopped getting worse.

Opus

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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #8 - Sep 10^th, 2007, 11:11pm

UPDATE 09/10/07 Latest results from blood tests: My 'crit is almost normal, even higher than it was back in June, thanks to the high protien diet, but my hemoglobin levels still won't go up any more. So I have about twice as many red cells as I did but still the same amount of hemoglobin to go amongst them. I'm making an appointment for the Parkland clinic to find out where the blood is going, because I'm not having any GI bleeding issues, I don't cut myself, and I'm not female so that escape route is denied. The doctor is stumped, so off to Parkland I go ( did I mention being unemployed sucks?).

Opus

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FlyingLaZBoy Moderator '16 ICE SprintX fs, '16 Rocket, '12 KHS Mocha Posts: 5803	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #9 - Sep 11^th, 2007, 5:10pm "What marks on the neck????!!!!!????"
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #10 - Sep 17^th, 2007, 11:39am

Update 09/17/07:

Parkland won't see me unless I pay in advance, because my wife was offered health insurance coverage for me but declined it because that would have resulted in having no take home income (you know, the reason why you go to work). I don't qualify for Medicare/Medicaid because we own our home. I guess I could change my name to Guererro and get care but my Spanish isn't that good.

I'm going to try Presbeterian tommorrow since they just check income v outgo without regard to health insurance and whether you own the home or someone else.

Opus

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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #11 - Sep 26^th, 2007, 10:25pm

UPDATE 09/26/07: I had another blood test done Monday which I thought would be much better, but wasn't. According to the doc's office my counts were up infinitesmally, not enough to account for my report of sunshine and light. Apparently being a cyclist I'm used to being breathless and in minor pain Wink

. Doc still doesn't know where the blood is going, and said the improvement I saw wasn't anywhere near what it should have been based on what I've been eating since the last test. I bought 5 pounds of liver, ate 3 of it myself and let the other 3 people in the house have the rest of it, and with all that easily absorbed iron my henoglobin barely budged. I'm getting pretty good at cooking liver now, nobody else in the family will touch it while it's raw Wink

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« Last Edit: Sep 26^th, 2007, 10:43pm by Opus the Poet »

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Richard rbent member Posts: 480	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #12 - Sep 27^th, 2007, 9:40am Opus, Our healthcare safety net has a few large holes in it. On the up side, I love liver and onions!
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #13 - Sep 28^th, 2007, 12:54am

A few holes, you say? Shocked

I'm only getting my meds in exchange for allowing my body to be used for medical research, so that they can see if mixing them create any new side effects Tongue

. Because of this the drug companies have created many "new" drugs that are really just mixtures of drugs approaching the ends of their patents, thereby extending the patent period.

Now my only chance of getting treatment for this condition is to let myself be used again so that med students can study me. I tell you some days I just can't stand it.

Opus

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« Last Edit: Sep 28^th, 2007, 12:59am by Opus the Poet »

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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #14 - Oct 24^th, 2007, 6:46pm

I went for a long(ish) ride today, just over 20 miles. Doc said go for it, but be prepared to go easy if I had pain or shortness of breath, and have an "out" to be able to bail on the ride , (yeah, right). Well it hurt, but not because of my blood problem (much). Since I only got the bike together and ridable last weekend and I haven't been on the bike since HHH, things are a little out of shape. I had some problems with the hills on this route, but since there's only the one in each direction (same hill out and back) I lived through it. I also had some tenderness where the calf muscles join the Achilles tendon. Fun Tongue

Opus

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Bud_Bent Moderator Posts: 3310	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #15 - Oct 24^th, 2007, 9:23pm Not bad, Opus. Sounds like maybe you're on your way back.
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Richard rbent member Posts: 480	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #16 - Oct 25^th, 2007, 8:34am Opus, Good to hear you are back on your wheels. How'd the bike do? Is it much smoother than before?
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #17 - Oct 26^th, 2007, 1:59am

Between the bigger wheel, the longer wheelbase, and the 1 or 2 mm of travel the extreme amount of rake in the fork has created, the bike rides like a limo now. And with the smaller amount of trail I have now the handleing is much more lively than before with a wheel that's over 30% larger. Howzaboutdat?

Opus

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Opus the Poet Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 1353	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #18 - Oct 26^th, 2007, 2:37pm Update 10/26/07: I finally got a reply back from Baylor, they're not interested. Unexplained anemia and low 'crit on an adult male in previously good health, but they're not interested. Smebody please explain what the hell I'm supposed to do now? Opus
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #19 - Nov 19^th, 2007, 2:06pm

We have a possible diagnosis for my anemia! I was a regular blood donor, about every 8 to 9 weeks for about 3 years (had to rebuild my account after taking out 6 units during the operations after the wreck). I found a web site that discusses performance problems for cyclists and one of the things was iron depletion from frequent blood donation. The consensus for blood donation by cyclists: don't. So, my donation schedule will be limited to one donation a year during the off season, probably sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It sure is a relief to find a plausible cause for my blood problems that doesn't involve cancer or bone marrow issues.

Opus

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Richard rbent member Posts: 480	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #20 - Nov 19^th, 2007, 2:29pm Opus, Glad to hear this. So now more liver and less blood donation? I hate being stuck with a needle. It gives me the creeps to see those large gauge needles used in donation.
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Opus the Poet

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Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you
Reply #21 - Dec 20^th, 2007, 9:38pm

I thought I should post this in this thread instead of starting a new one: I'm on permanent deferral from donating blood to the Red Cross. I'm still covered for any more blood needs should I have to have another operation, but I don't need to (can't) give any more. Dang I was just one more unit from my 3 gallon pin cry

Or was that my 4 gallon pin, I've lost track undecided

Opus

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jcsadowski Five Star Member Clown #1 Posts: 1199	Re: You know that joke about too much blood in you Reply #22 - Dec 21^st, 2007, 1:00pm I am working on my sixth gallon. Abet not to seriously.
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