Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Follow-up: Iron IV Infusions

I just booked an appointment for my third IV iron infusion. I am so surprised! I had my blood work done yesterday, and my ferritin level was 28. This is down from my level of 48 at the time they did the second infusion (before the infusion, of course). I can't help but feel disappointed, but that's kind of a silly reaction. :) Bear with me. Since I'm coming up from an initial level of three - well, we're making leaps and bounds of progress. The nurse said my dwindling numbers aren't a reflection on any mischief my body is up to instead of making iron like it's supposed to. It can just sometimes take longer than expected to get the levels up and stabilized.

We are shooting for a level of 50. After I'm stabilized here, they'll put me on an oral iron supplement and continue to monitor my levels, as needed. On the plus side, at my current levels, I notice that I am feeling better and have a bit more energy. The most marked difference I've noticed is that I wake up before the alarm clock in the morning. This is a new thing, believe me!

I'm having the third IV infusion tomorrow afternoon. The hematologist did not test my vitamin D levels yesterday. Instead, they will have me take the higher dose of vitamin D once a week for two months and then re-test.

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