Infusion City!

Not the kind of news to cheer about on the DS Forum...but here it is...and newbies, pay very close attention -

It's week two of infusions for me.

I knew my labs might be bad this time around, but not this bad.

Six months prior,  I had been dealing with my Mom's decline and finally, her death. 

Here's the damage:

Abnormal labs: 

PTH (high: means bones are leaching calcium.  The parathyroid glands don't do much until your blood calcium levels drop, then they send out the cavalry!  I've had calcium issues out of the gate!)

Vitamin D (works with calcium and magnesium to build bone)

prealbumin (20.3 - lowest of "normal" range is 20.0 at my lab not good news, may be starting PCM- protein calorie malnutrition)

zinc (helps immune system)

iron (helps blood transport oxygen, what makes hemoglobin red)

Vitamin K (aids blood clotting - I suspected K was off when a cut I had was healing very slowly)

I got WAY sloppy the past 6 months, but back on track now, and with the infusions (iron, multi-vite and calcium) along with my back to normal routine, I hope to reverse what damage may have been done.

Let this be your wake up call, fellow DSer's!

Even when life is not so great, you still have to do what you need to do to keep standing! 
                        

Just wanted to tell you you are not alone.  My sister had the DS 9 years ago.  Her surgery is still successful and she has had 0 complications until mom got sick.  Like you, while taking care of mom for the past two years.....she quit taking the time for herself.   Hadn't been getting her protein, not taking her supplements.  She went to the beach last month and got sunburned a bit but not enough for the Pitting Edema she ended up getting, and her feet looked like Fred Flintstone.  Come to find out the swelling was from extremely low iron and basically no Ferritin.  The swelling was coming from tissue breakdown.  Scary stuff.  She' s lucky she didn't end up with permanent damage.  2 units of blood and 6 iron infusions later....she is doing better.  Like you said......No matter how long ago it was you had the DS.....You need to keep up with your labs and supplements   Take care all!!

Wow, 9 years ago!

Your sister must have been one of the pioneer patients!

Fortunately, my surgeon does labs every 6 months on most DSers. If she didn't, I may not have been fortunate enough to catch the deficiencies at "moderate", and may well have been severely deficient...or worse.

Glad she is doing better, and I hope she never has to go down Infusion Alley again!