Clarification

Our sweet, super cute, skinny and beautiful even when she's 9 months pregnant, awesomely down to earth and real cousin Marie asked for clarification on what these infusions I'm getting are all about.

Here's the deets. I have chronic iron deficient anemia. I was diagnosed with this in 1997. I take oral medications but there are times that the oral medication isn't enough for my body to keep up it's supply of hemoglobin and iron. So in the past, I have received blood transfusions and this has corrected the problem. This time, the blood transfusion that I got a month ago was not enough. This time, they have sent me to an oncologist to receive iron sucrose infusions. It's very similar to chemotherapy and a lot of cancer patients are also anemic so I receive the infusions at the UCD Cancer Center. The infusions are a bag of dark brown liquid that is given to me intravenously (by IV drip). It takes about two hours to get the bag of medication and the flush they give after.

Like chemotherapy, you don't get a reaction to this medication right away. About 24 hours after the infusion, I get very tired. Then because the iron is affecting my bone marrow I get deep pain in my joints and bones. The only way I can describe it is like you got in a car accident or got beaten up with a baseball bat. As the iron is absorbed the pain spreads out which is good because it get less intense when it does. I get more tired from this process. Then, the stomach flu symptoms start. Luckily, thanks to really good drugs, I have had minimal nausea. But well, if you don't puke when you have the flu...you...well...you get the idea. Bad. But then, about 72 hours after the infusion, the pain subsides, the tiredness goes away and you are left with a couple of days of feeling A LOT better than I did before this whole process started. I can't even tell you how much better I feel now that the infusions have started.

I have two more infusions to go in this cycle. Your body can't really take more than five infusions in a short period of time. So this coming Friday the 12th, will be my last infusion. I am hoping to be a little bit sick on the 13 and 14th and then plow right into Christmas. That will leave me a little less than the 12 days of Christmas to get it all done. But I swear, I will do it some how. I will get my shopping and wrapping and baking and decorating done and will make this holiday magical for my girls. I even moved furniture tonight in preparation for the tree going up.

I may have to get infusions again in the future. I will be working with a Hematologist to monitor my levels and they will decide how to proceed after the New Year.