Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Doctor Says....


"I'm confused, too. You have no reason to be sick."

Whaaattt?

So the lowdown according to last month's lab results is: I have "strikingly" low protein levels in my blood comparable to a person who is in-the-hospital-sick or suffering from a chronic illness. The protein is what keeps the water in the veins. Because I have no protein, the water is escaping through the walls of the veins and pooling in my feet, which is causing the swelling. The two reasons for that to happen is kidney or liver disfunction, which my labs show neither. So I have no reason for this to be happening.

I told her that I was confused because of all of the protein that I eat, and I eat well. She's confused, too. So we took some more blood to check the protein again. If my protein level has improved at all, she is going to assume a nutritional imbalance and it should slowly get better. If there is no change, or it's the same then she will be doing phone consultations with a kidney specialist, liver specialist, and a vascular surgeon to see if I need to be refered to one of them.

In the meantime, I am eating more protein and calories, and I'm going to start wearing compression socks at night to try and control the swelling. I should get the lab results tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well and I won't be refered to a surgeon--Scary! /:

4 comments:

Carlson Clan said...

Oh man that stinks so bad! I'm sorry to hear that. And I'm sorry I haven't emailed you for so long. It's hard to get more then ten minutes at the computer these days! But I haven't forgotten you and will be writing you soon. Good luck with your doctor's appointments. You're in my prayers!

Heidi said...

Well, isn't that comforting that the doctor doesn't know whats wrong? Hopefully they figure something out soon that really gets you feeling all the way better!

Unknown said...

Ah! You must be so frustrated right now! That happened to me last year in a different way, but I was referred to a specialist for what I was being tested for and we finally got everything worked out. So maybe if you end up needing to go to a specialist it will be taken care of faster than you think! :) I hope you start feeling better though so it doesn't come to that!!! GET BETTER SOON! :)

alisekelley said...

Oh I hope everything goes OK. Please keep us updated.