A Short Hospital Stay
I've been so bad, lately, about keeping up with my WA sites and interacting with everyone. So I need to explain why.
For the past couple of months, my energy level just wasn't up to par. I tired easily and just couldn't stay focused. Then, about two weeks ago I started experiencing episodes of shortness of breath. I thought it was just because I needed more exercise, but you know how that goes...put it off.
All of a sudden those episodes of shortness of breath became concerning. I could barely make my bed in the morning or walk from my car to a store. I thought maybe I was having heart problems. My mom had heart disease so it seemed logical to me.
So I went to see my doctor who ordered several tests including blood tests. As it turns out, my hemoglobin was dangerously low. Apparently, a normal level for hemoglobin (which carries oxygen through the blood to your body) is 11 to 15. A blood transfusion is ordered if it drops to 7. Mine was 5.4. There was barely any oxygen left in my blood. It indicated that there was internal bleeding somewhere, most likely in my gut.
I was immediately sent to hospital emergency. They gave me 2 units of blood and admitted me. To make a long story short, they did find the source of the bleeding which has been stopped and they determined that I am anemic because of it. My doctor said it had probably been happening slowly for a long time and that had I not made that appointment I very likely would have just collapsed. Yikes!
I have to take it easy for awhile, but I'm going to be fine. I have some catching up to do. I'm looking forward to it.
My message to all my WA friends is this: "Listen to your body". If something doesn't seem right, check it out!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone.
Cheryl
AN UPDATE: Made a trip to Urgent Care, yesterday...the site where the IV tube in my arm had become infected so now I'm on antibiotics for that! It had become quite painful and something just told me I needed to have it checked. So once again the old "listen to your body" came into play!
Am slowly trying to get back into the swing of things here at WA. It's my favorite place to be. I wonder what that says about me?!
Recent Comments
46
sorry to hear this, glad they have found the cause and your health will improve steadily take care wish you all the best have a lovely weekend,, nice to see you back
Oh,so glad you listened to your body- better late than never!right?
It sounds like it could have been very terrible had you not. I hope you recover soon and keep getting better;Thanks for the good advice and wish you all the best with your catching up and look forward to hearing more from you,Cheryl!
Cheers! - Charity
Yes, Charity...much better late than never! I'm feeling better every day. Thanks much for the good wishes.
Glad to hear the found the issue and corrected it. Great advice to listen to your body when it is talking to you.
Take it easy and i wish you a speedy recovery!
Thanks, Ron. I did want to tell everyone how important it is to take action if something just doesn't seem right.
Cheryl i'm glad you found out what the problem was, and that you are going to be fine. I didn't need a transfusion but had a similar problem when I was just out of high school. I have been fine since then.
Marty
That was many years ago but at the time I didn't know if it would happen again.
The best thing is to take care of yourself with nutrition, rest and the right exercise. I'm glad you're back:-)
I'm sure glad you took action when you did and got things figured out.
You look to be too young to be having health problems, but I guess we can all have trouble. Thake it easy Cheryl and welcome back.
See more comments
You must have been very tired, I miscarriaged once and ended up in the hospital with a 5.1 level, it took me a year to get my strength back. In Holland a transfusion is been ordered at 5. So I had to climb that hill all by myself, take care Cheryl.
Oh, Loes! So sorry you had to go through that! That was a long climb, for sure. I have pledged to take better care of myself from now on. Thanks for the good wishes.