The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Iron levels

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On Tuesday I had an appointment with the haematologist about my haemochromatosis and how my iron levels are doing after 6 months of having a pint of blood drained out of me every 2 weeks.

It was quite odd to see this usually confident and in control consultant looking distinctly sheepish and embarrassed.

Apparently he had just assumed my local GP would be getting my blood tested after each venesection.

Apparently my local GP has assumed I should keep having the blood taken until the 6 months had passed, when the haematologist would test me again.

Apparently I am now anaemic.

I should have guessed when I stopped feeling the urge to face magnetic north when having a crap.

I thought I was feeling more tired of late; a downward turn since the New Year.

But then, when you’re tired all the time anyway, it’s not always obvious it you’re getting worse or not. With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome there are bad days and not so bad days, and bad weeks and not so bad weeks. So how to tell if I’m just having a bad patch, or things have actually taken a turn for the worse?

It could just have easily been the time of year – me and winter months, with their lack of light and warmth, have never particularly got on well together.

Still, I don’t have to take iron supplements as my genetic mutations mean I’ll recover from this considerably quicker than the average mortal.

But at least I only need to have a needle the size of a piece of scaffolding stuck in my arm 3 or 4 times a year from now on.


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21 comments

Unknown said...

Apparently why they call it "practicing medicine". Interesting. Hope you feel up to snuff soon.

Barlinnie said...

Pah! Don't even get me started on doctors and their ways.

I've had more fingers up my rear end this morning, than a rent boy in Soho has to endure in a week.

I wouldn't have minded, but all this took place on the train!

Pat said...

Doesn't it make you want to weep? The buggers!
As I'm a half full person at least that explains the most recent exhaustion. I do hope it rights itself soon and there now may be some improvement. Was there a
'Sorry Kim' perchance?
Thought not.

debra said...

Well, this seems to be another example of what happens when one
ass u me s.
So sorry you're on the receiving end, Kim.

Jupiter's Girl said...

It's so ridiculous - your treatments and nebulous conclusions. I recommend alternative medicine. Herbs, essential oils, something different. Modern medicine does miraculous things, to be sure, but they lack common sense. Really.
At least someone had the decency to be sheepish when admitting that.

Charlie said...

Doctors know very little about communication--either with patients or amongst themselves.

Eryl said...

I would be outraged for you but I'm always making assumptions and then having to look sheepish, so don't feel able to. It's a bugger though.

Kim Ayres said...

Carole - you'd like to think practice makes perfect...

Jimmy - it's terrible when you can't get a seat on the train in Glasgow...

Pat - the word "sorry" was never mentioned, although the embarrassed faces were rather satisfying. When I saw my GP on Thursday he hadn't received a note from the clinic yet, so I said he should expect a letter. Rather amusingly, the nurse said "Aye, your P45..."

Debra - these things happen and because I'm tired so often anyway, I can't say it had a huge impact on my life

JG - any pointers from my astrological chart?

Charlie - I think some universities now do a seminar on it, although I don't know whether they tell the medical students where it is...

Eryl - to be honest I found the whole thing quite funny, in a dark kind of way

sarah said...

haemochromatosis easily controlled by donating blood every 6-8 weeks.

anaemics unite.. you don't want to take iron suppliments.. that bloody hurts.

iron deficiencies and surpluses do cause fatigue. i hope once you have it sorted that your chronic fatigue isn't so.. horrible.

Apex Zombie said...

Dude, you're wolverine! Hope you feel a little bit better when your blood evens itself out.

Stupid doctors... don't they know when you're dealing with an X-man all assumptions must be thrown out the window!

Ché l'écossais said...

It's good that you know the cause of your recent fatigue, at least.

Now turn off the TV and go and photograph something more interesting instead.

Charlie said...

You know, there's something different about your avatar, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Kim Ayres said...

Sarah - here's hoping... :)

FLG - when dealing with an X-man, it's usually the doctor who' thrown out of the window...

Ché - been out photographing a poet friend of mine today, to try and capture an image for his website. I love it :)

Charlie - wouldn't want you putting your finger up it either...

The Birdwatcher said...

You should go Privately. Hope your feeling better though.

sarah said...

let me just add.. i loved your ironman work-up - very original.

W.V. = JAISESS!! praise da lord and all that? what the hell!

Kim Ayres said...

Birdwatcher - I'm afraid I don't have the funds or the insurance to go private

Sarah - thank you - it was a bit of fun that came out of a conversation I had with a friend of mine over a coffee :)

karatemom said...

oh the I R O N Y ....of it all.

Mary Witzl said...

I was anemic myself for a year or two and I remember how utterly exhausted it made me. How it might feel on top of a pre-existing condition doesn't bear thinking about. Here's hoping you find a new source of energy -- and here's hoping your doctors communicate with each other from now on!

Cie Cheesemeister said...

Wow...your doctor wouldn't be a fellow with slick black hair and shiny white fangs who dresses in a tuxedo and eye-catching black cape, would he? Have you considered wearing a silver cross to your next appointment and seeing if he backs away snarling and hissing? Or perhaps you could offer him a nice swig of holy water.
Seriously, that would be a heck of a thing to have happen. First they tell you they have to bleed you, but in doing so they make you anemic. I would be frustrated to say the least. Then again, I tend to feel like a lab experiment any time I go to the doctor.

The Hangar Queen said...

So it's been a few days. Feel any different?

Kim Ayres said...

KarateMom - ba-dum tish!

Mary - I'll drink to that! Or I would, but I'd probably fall over...

Cheesemeister - I'm just glad it wasn't going on for a year before anyone checked again :)

Hangar Queen - not at all. Might need to give it a little longer

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