Sorry, long post.
Last Friday I got some blood tests in prep for my oncology followup a week later. It turns out that the previous oncologist never ordered the tests. But other orders were in the system from another doctor, so blood was drawn for that one 3 months too early. I fiund all this out after the fact.
Anyway, the oncologist went ahead and ordered blood work after my appointment, but he caught something that was strange on the test results that were already available. It turns out that our bodies have free light chains in them. At least two of these work together in the bone marrow. One was functioning normally but a second companion light chain was functioning at 3X less capacity than it should. So now I get to have a bone marrow biopsy and bone marrow aspiration next Friday. The biopsy is from the solid bone marrow and the aspiration is from the liquid in the marrow. Thank goodness this will be taken from the hip bone rather than the spine. It is outpatient and with a local anesthetic only. And I don't need anyone to accompany me.
When the oncologist got some of his own tests back, he called me this past Thursday night and told me to get to the ER right away. It turns out that my blood count was 5.7 when it should be above 7. I was critically anemic.
After spending several hours in the ER with dumb things developing, I was sent home without a blood transfusion. Why? It turns out that that my blood type A Negative now has 3 minor antibodies in it that the hospital wasn't able to match. So the ER doctor had to consult with my doctors Felliow for a course of action. They found a right match at the American Red Cross but it wouldn't be available until around noon the next day. Rather than sleep in the ER, they sent me home.
I was supposed to followup with my doctor the next morning to get a transfusion scheduled. I called and, no one got back to me. So ... after 30 minutes I decided to sign in at registration and explain what I needed. They got in touch with infusion right away and I was sent up to that area. The nurse was very helpful and arranged the transfusion and the blood transfer to the facility.
I spent from 9:15 am to 4:15 pm in a chair hooked up to an IV. The good news is that after receiving 2 units of blood I feel so much better. I can function now and even spent 3 hr 45 min in our community garden today. I could only clean out some decorative pots, plant new flowers and mulch. But it was worth it. I also sat down the entire time but I had no problem breathing. And our Master Gardener dropped and we had a good chat.
I hope the bone marrow test shows something, so that this blood loss mystery can be solved and I know what I am truly dealing with. I don't like living with the unknown.
