Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Good News, To A Point ...

I saw my delight of a hematologist yesterday. (He's pretty awesome -- if you're local to Portland and need a hemonc, go see Dr. Thomas DeLoughery at OHSU.)

The good news is my ferritin levels responded exceedingly well. They bounced up from 26 to 214. The hematologist says that level of response makes it unlikely that I'll need to repeat the infusions, but I'll need to get my levels tested in three to six months and then annually from now on.

The downside? If iron deficiency was causing my fatigue, I should be feeling more energetic by now. And I'm not.

Sigh.

Of course, that might just be because I'm not completely over the flu bug I caught a few weeks ago, and I'm still run down from that.

All I know is I don't feel any better.

Meanwhile, about those weird ganglioside antibodies I tested positive for? The ones none of my other doctors were willing to venture a guess as to their significance? He's referring me to my neurologist for more testing and leaving me in her hands.

I'm feeling fairly frustrated at this point regarding my mystery illness. Yeah, that's an understatement. :)

Looking ahead, I see my internist on Thursday and am considering requesting antibiotics for my sinus infection. (My eosinophil level on my May 11 tests was 10 percent, and I'm guessing that was due to my ongoing infection.) I do my pre-op appointment with my OB on Friday. And I see the neurologist on May 28, who I hope will go ahead and order the tests we discussed last time I saw her.

And that's all the news from here.


2 comments:

Miss Waxie aka A Comic Life, Indeed said...

If it's annnny constellation, Aviva, the neurologist is definetly the right person to deal with those ganglioside antibodies.

Doesn't make doctor hopping suck any less.

Hang in there, girlie!!

- Miss Waxie

Aviva said...

Hi Miss Waxie!

Thanks for the encouragement! I had showed my neuro the ganglioside antibody test results when I saw her a few weeks ago, but since the hemonc was the one who ordered the test, she wanted to wait to see what he thought of them before she did anything. I'm glad I already had an appointment set up with her for next week so I don't have to wait another month to see her!

I just get so tired of ping-ponging between various doctors. And I know you know exactly what it's like!! (And I wish neither of us did!)