I have been anemic for 3 weeks now. It is wearing on the soul.
So a little information about anemia that I didn’t know prior to my cancer diagnosis. Anemia causes fatigue. Bone wearying fatigue that makes movement feel impossible. The lack of functioning red blood cells means your muscles, organs and everything else gets less oxygen than it should. And oxygen is what keeps the body moving.
My bone marrow is not doing what it is supposed to. It is not creating the amount of red blood cells that I need. It is a result of having cancer. It is a result of treatment. Right now I am sitting at 10.1 on the anemia scale. The goal is to be over 11. If I was less than 10 I could get the “bee sting shot” as I call it. But that shot “encourages” my bone marrow to get up off its lazy chemical ridden butt to make more red blood cells. Then I can have my energy back.
My body just feels drained. That there is no pep to it. I can drink as much coffee as I want but that is only temporary and have very limited effects. My muscles just feel weak. Mental activities take a lot more time. Everything is just more laborious
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The problem with feeling so drained is the psychological effect it has on a person. By now, 6 days after my last treatment, I should be up and running at pretty normal pace. However I am not. I am still sluggish. I still want to sleep as much as I can. There is so much I want to do, but for my body, it is so much harder to do it without the oxygen it demands. It is psychologically frustrating to not feel good.
The beauty of this is that I know there is a fix in the future. I just have to wait till I get below 10 so that I can get the “bee sting shot” (I tried to find a video to show people’s response to the shot, but no luck. It really does feel like a few bees are attacking you at the same time). Once I get that shot, hopefully my body will take off and suddenly I will have more energy.
It does help to know there is a fix waiting in the wings for me. It isn’t like this cancer that I will always be fighting. But it is one thing that I can identify when it is a problem and it is one thing the doctors can help me with. I am just ready for my energy to come back.
Hope In All Forms 