Ok, the health front. Well, first, since I'm thinking about it, the filling was a lot easier then expected. My jaw is tender and achy right now, but it's not so bad. Tolerable-especially with a little cold compress to my check.
Anemia... I saw the hematologist Monday. Figured it took me almost three weeks to get the appointment, might as well keep it. So, he was great. Spent about an HOUR with me discussing the whole history, my problems, what my counts mean and such. Keep in mind, I've been panicked about the possibility of the anemia being bone-marrow related. That is most likely not the case afterall. My body is producing white blood cells in normal counts AND red blood cells in normal counts. The problem is that they are undersized because they are lacking in hemoglobin. If it were my bone marrow not working (or not working correctly) I wouldn't be making anything.
So, I'm doing something odd, but it will potentially make my iron counts stable. I'm going in every weekday for a total of 14 days and getting iron injected directly into my veins. Yup, by the end, I'm officially going to look like a junkie. *grin* But, the idea is that we'll bypass my stomach and therefore avoid the intolerance that I endure when taking iron orally. So far, two days, two injections, no reactions. By doing this, we'll rebuild my iron stores and hopefully, I should start to feel better-more like normal-in about a month. Makes me want to cry just thinking about the fact that I went four years feeling like shit when this is such a simple solution. And, there's no panic over getting a transfusion. It's iron, it's not someone else's blood. It's probably not a one time fix. Depending on how much my body absorbs and how much I lose on a monthly basis, I will probably have to go back for boosters anywhere from once a month to once a year. But, each treatment only takes about 20 minutes, so it's something I can certainly live with for the benefit of being normal. Finally, something positive from it all. The downside (besides the fact I'm a pincushion for the next three weeks) is that my insurance ends on the 28th. It's $40 a treatment without insurance, so it's just cheaper to try to get the COBRA payment (over $200) then pay it out-of-pocket. The other problem is despite the fact that I'm not seeing the doctor-just coming in for a quick injection-I still have to pay a $10/copay each and every time. That's like another $150 I don't have. Ugh. I actually had to talk to the billing lady today and flat out told her, "Look, I'm NOT working. I can't come in a pay $10 every day for the next couple of weeks. I DON'T have it." She started to get snippy with me and I was afraid I was going to lose this whole prospect of finally getting better. She finally eased enough to say that I was still responsible, but they'd bill me for it. That I can live with. I just can't do it now.
Work. Ugh. The original four-letter word. Still no update on that front...that's the bad part of things. Haven't been on a single interview, can't get my recruiter to call me back. (I know it's because she doesn't want to place me somewhere and have me quit and/or get fired again because of illness-related absences.) Tomorrow's my last paid day from my severance, so I don't know what I'm going to do thereafter. I simply can't survive without a paycheck.
So on one hand, things are looking up. There's finally a chance that I will be able to make it through a day without hurting and being dead tired. On the other, I have no clue what to do about work. Especially since now, everyday at 4pm I've got to go in and get my injection. How can I get interviews-let alone a job-on the condition that I have to be at my doctor's office at 4pm everyday? If I could just keep getting paid until the end of March, there'd be no problem. I'd be feeling better and done with my treatment. But, that's just not going to happen, and I don't know what to do from here.
Just when things start looking up, there's a whole other side that's plummeting...
~ flowers bloom near Memory and Dream
at 2/27/2001 11:50:22 PM ~
~
