I went in today for blood work. They ran a CBC. My WBC (white blood cells) and LYMPH (lymphocites) are back in the normal range. These are the immune system related stats that were low last week. This time, my HGB and HCT were below normal range. These are the red blood cell stats that cause anemia when low. My HGB is 8.0 and they said when it gets below 8.0, I have to have a blood transfusion. They told me to eat foods high in iron and gave me a list (below).
I'm going to try to eat them even though it will hurt to swallow most of them due to my sore throat(chemo induced issue due to fast growing cells being effected).
Mild anemia: hemoglobin 10 to 11 g/dL
Moderate anemia: hemoglobin 8 to 10 g/dL
Severe anemia: hemoglobin 6.5 to 8 g/dL
Life-threatening anemia: hemoglobin less than 6.5
For more information regarding anemia and cancer,
click here.
overall good news then :)
ReplyDeleteGood news? Not really. Red blood cells carry oxygen. Low red blood cells means you get out of breath really quickly. I can't even walk from the parking lot into a store without getting out of breath. If I can't eat enough iron rich foods, I will have to have a blood transfusion Monday. From what I've been told, this is a 5 hour process. From what I have read, it carries several significant risks as well, one of those being that you can receive blood that carries a disease they don't screen for like Hepatitis B. I think I liked having low white blood count better than this.
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