Living with Lucy Part 3
Let’s talk about blood donations for a minute. First, thank you if you have ever donated blood and to those of you who are multiple-time donors, a huge THANK YOU. Blood that is donated goes first to the folks in critical need. If there is a shortage of blood, typically during the summer months, then the people in critical need get the blood that is donated, and the remainder of us must wait until more is donated. I hope this helps you see how important it is to donate blood.
About the time I started to get the immunotherapy, Lucy decided that she wanted my protein too. Sodium was not enough for her, she also gobbled up my protein. So, I just ate enough for the two of us. I refused to have my protein go too low, because I needed it to stay strong and at least look healthy even if I’m not! I’d go to the gym and work out then have a protein snack.
She steals and hides things
Soon, Lucy was not content with just my sodium and protein, she wanted my iron too! That made me mad! The oncologist had me go in every week for ten weeks for an infusion of iron. At first, it seemed to work, and I started looking and feeling better. I was able to walk a third of a mile around the building in which I live without having to sit down and rest. I soon could even walk around it three times! But that didn’t last because Lucy was hungry for iron. She stole all that had been added and I was soon back to anemia. That feels almost as bad as low sodium. Do you see what I mean about how she steals and hides things and won’t let me have them? She’s mean, I tell you. Mean, mean, mean.
The side effects are not nearly as bad
What did the oncologist do when she stole my iron again? Well, it made my red blood cell count and my hemoglobin low enough that I left that “wait and watch” stage of leukemia and started targeted therapy, and chemo pills that I take daily. I’ll be taking them for the remainder of my life. They fight for me, and they don’t let Lucy steal as much, although she still sometimes gets a little of my sodium, protein, and iron. She still gets my antibodies. We don’t know where Lucy hides them, so that’s why I get other people’s antibodies every three weeks. Of course, all medicines have side effects, and these do too, but the side effects are not nearly as bad as dealing with Lucy stealing from me constantly.
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