I don’t have time for this!

I’m getting worried about my blood work.

I last did blood work in early October. My forever dropping hemoglobin at that time was 66 (or 6.6). I don’t have an appointment to get a scope of my stomach done until November 9. In the meantime, in an attempt to avoid getting transfused again, my nephrologist has suggested 5 doses of Venofer via my dialysis machine for my next 5 dialysis runs. Then, we shall check the hemoglobin again.

To make things worse, I’m not currently having a lupus flare, but my lupus indicator numbers are certainly creeping up. They have been slowly climbing over the past few months. Did the stress of this exam push me into a flare? Who knows. I haven’t had a real flare in a few years. It’s hard for me to say “oh yeah, I’m having a flare because I have joint pain”. I don’t get joint pain anywhere except my knee and my hip…and that’s because I have avascular necrosis, so that pain is there whether I’m flaring or not. Not to mention…if I am flaring..what happens? I go back on high doses of prednisone: the very drug that caused my avascular necrosis in the first place. Crappy.

I don’t see my rheumatologist until the last week of October. I’m going to do full bloodwork about a week before I see him so that he has the most up to date blood work to look at.

Man, I gotta say…I’m worried. I have 6 courses this semester and I want to finish them all. I don’t want to have to drop anything. God, help me through this and continue to give me the strength that you’ve been giving me all along…