Walking, Yoga, Iron Infusions, Pancreatic Cysts, and a Skin Biopsy
I received my first iron infusion three weeks ago. It was simple and fast and I had no reactions. I had to go into clinic to get it as my home infusion company doesn't infuse iron. It took a half an hour and I had to stay another half hour to make sure I didn't have any side effects. In the meantime, I had started walking at the park, just twice. The first ten minutes of each walk was very difficult. It felt like I was very out of shape. My muscles were burning and I was going at the pace of a snail! After the first ten minutes, my legs felt better and I was able to walk the rest of the mile. I noticed the next time I went for a walk after the iron infusion, I did not have the ten minutes of agony. Perhaps the iron helped with my stamina.
The next iron infusion I got went a little differently. I was given paperwork before I started the infusion, like the first time but this time I noticed that the type of iron seemed to be different. I also noticed this one had a potential side effect of high potassium. That concerned me. It turned out my insurance wasn't going to cover the cost of the first iron. The high potassium side effect lead to me not continuing the infusion. The nurse unhooked me and told me I would still need to stay as I had received some of the iron and it was a different formulation, one I hadn't had before. In the meantime, my coordinator was called and she suggested I stick with the infusion, that I was pretty anemic, and the iron would help. She also said that she hadn't had any patience have high potassium afterwards. I felt better knowing this. I agreed to restart. She also said that instead of needing just two infusions, I would now require a third. She said there was one other medicine available but that would take a total of 6 more infusions. So naturally, I tried my luck with this one. Pharmacy was called, and within an hour of being there, we finally started for real. The problem was that it was already pretty late. I had a 4pm appointment. Now it was 5pm and the infusion was for two hours with a half hour of waiting afterwards. I'm pretty sure they infused it in just one hour. We ended up being the last people in the infusion suite and the last people on the clinic floor. Everyone else had left.
They had me come in earlier for my last infusion since it would take two hours. It went by very slow but uneventful, which is great. This time I didn't have to stay the extra half hour as I had the same formulation the time before. When I went to walk again with my sister, I was able to do the 1.1 mile loop as well as the .75 mile loop at the park. My stamina had increased and I even walked a bit faster. I've walked two more times at that same distance. I noticed yoga is a little easier to keep up with now too. I didn't think the iron would make a big difference as my red blood count is pretty low and my hemoglobin isn't too bad at 8-9. I'm glad to have more energy and strength.
I went for my yearly MRCP, and MRI to check on my pancreatic cysts. The results came back fast, and last Friday, my coordinator called to say one of the cysts had grown. I will need an endoscopy guided with ultrasound to take a biopsy of the cyst. I scheduled the appointment for April 9th for a consultation with the GI doctor.
Today I had a skin appointment. I made the appointment because at the top of my right ear, a small bump was forming and scabbing and it hurt. So, I got a biopsy and will get the results back in a week. I'm pretty sure it's skin cancer, which means I'll need another appointment to have it removed.
