Pale and Purple

Hello everyone. I didn't post Round Three's experiences yet because I've been so tired so I've put it off. Round three was actually not as bad as round two. I put the motion sickness patch on the night before so that it was in my system the next day. And when I got to the infusion center I took a lorazepam (Ativan) to essentially knock me out. So I slept through the infusions. At the end I asked for a Pepcid infusion as well. When I got home I went straight to bed. I didn't suffer from the extreme saliva and mucus production that had been upsetting my stomach. I didn't throw up at all. I did feel very tired, but I just slept a lot and that was OK. I also got some fluids on Wednesday and on Friday because I really am having some problems with dehydration.

And dehydration is what I've been blaming my tiredness on.

But today I went to see my regular doctor for regular stuff and she commented that I look pale. I also have no energy. My heart rate is fast. I have some shortness of breath when I go upstairs or exert myself in normal ways. Plus she also said I looked "purple". I exclaimed "I look pale and purple!!" What she means is that my gums look tinged with purple and also the palms of my hands in certain places. She said that anemia or a lack of oxygen can cause that. She checked my oxygen using a little thing on my finger and it was fine. So, she's pretty certain I'm anemic. Which would cause rapid heart rate, tiredness, shortness of breath, and "duskiness" which is the purple thing. On top of all that, my throat is red and feels "cottony" to me. She swabbed it and said I have an infection on my throat. And my shoulder is still hurting... she gave me a muscle relaxer for that.

Basically I'm pale, purple, and feeling pretty bad. But it'll all pass.

I will go tomorrow (Thursday) to get my bi-weekly blood work done (a day early) and that will tell us if I am anemic. The fix for that is probably a blood transfusion, but let's wait for the blood results before we start thinking about that. I'll keep you posted.