"I want to suck your blood". Unfortunately, this is what the nurse says about every three weeks to Sue. OK, that's not exactly what gets said, but for this last Friday's blood letting session it would have been appropriate. The doctor thinks that may be by next summer Sue will be able to stop this as her iron levels might be low enough by then. The restrictions of having the permanent port necessary for Sue getting this done are a little bothersome (no golf swinging or active swimming).
Fortunately we think we uncovered a minor medical mystery. A few months ago, for the preliminary blood test to see if Sue has enough red blood to allow for that month's blood letting, the result came back that she had more than she normally had. That seemed like good news, and cleared the way for proceeding with the blood letting. Unfortunately, the more comprehensive blood test came back after the blood was taken saying the opposite--that Sue was below the amount needed. After a week of worrying and trying not to overdo things, a new blood test showed that Sue was on the way back to normal.
From then on till this last Friday, Sue would come in an hour early to get the more accurate and comprehensive blood test to avoid the same situation. After a test a month ago comparing the comprehensive with the pin prick test, we decided to try and go back to the pin prick and assume that the mistake had been an anomaly. However, this last Friday the pin prick came back high again. Worrying that this was another mistake, we talked with the nurse. Well, apparently there are some people whose pin pricks produce different results from what a comprehensive test would show.
So the nurse took blood directly from the port and using the same quick tester that is used for the pin prick, did another test. And the results...came back normal for Sue, enough to go ahead, but not nearly as high as the pin prick. Well, thanks to this realization, Sue can come in at the normal time and just will get the quick test through the port rather than a pin prick--saving us at least an hour each visit and giving us another insight into knowledge that should be better known by all medical staff.
We had a nice Halloween even though Sue is a little tired and feels the effects of the blood loss for at least a couple days.
Soon Sue will see the orthopedist about her shoulder which has some of the same bone damage as was seen in her hip.
That's an interesting insight about the blood tests. It does seem the sort of thing that medical professionals should be on top of--if the person has a port, do the quick test from the port. In their defense, there are so many different scenarios...
Anyhow, we had a nice halloween too. Sam, the older son, is now too old to go out. Making me feel that much older.
Posted by: Tenbroeck | November 03, 2009 at 10:56 AM