a wee bit too much iron...

so this afternoon i went to the doctor and he thinks that i have a genetic condition called hemochromatosis. and in a nutshell (my understanding of it) a normal body will get rid of all of the extra iron that it doesn't need but this condition causes the body to store the extra iron. and it stores the iron in organs and overtime it will cause the organs to not work correctly. generally it effects people in their 40's and 50's - mostly because it takes that long for the body to show symtoms (ex: your organs start misbehaving). since i had an uncle die of complications from it (he was unaware he had it) i specifically asked for the test and well. here we are.

luckily once caught it is fairly easy to treat. my first step is to have a liver biopsy (because it generally stores in the liver first) to see how much damage has been done and how much iron is stored in the liver. if there is damage to the liver then there is some sort of treatment but i haven't figured that out yet. regardless since my iron is so high it will have to be removed from my system which involves getting rid of lots of blood - possibly a pint two times a week for as long as it takes. and then giving blood every few months or so - forever. i will probably see a specialist in a few weeks to lay out a plan and then we will see.

i'm slightly freaked out. i know it's not terminal. i'm young and healthy so the odds are that the damage isn't bad but still. plus, i've never had anything medically invasive - except for when i was a baby. cutting, poking, biopsy-ing are not fun things to me and it give me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. and then there is that giving pints of blood for the rest of my life. i have little veins and i'm weak.

plus, i need to understand everything and feel like i am in control. and i sort of trust doctors but i know that ultimately i have to look out for myself. after a little web surfing i'm already confused and have questions. for example a liver biopsy is not an easy procedure and some sites say you should only do it in extreme cases and i'm not sure i'm an extreme case yet - i know i'm going to a specialist and they can answer these questions - but seriously i'm not good when i don't have a good understand of things - it wears me out and makes me worry. sigh.

but all will be well. it's friday. and e is coming home soon.

due to my emotional stress i had a small fall off the wagon tonight but it was a well thought out fall. i knew i wanted to get me something to eat and to get out of my house so i headed to sonic. i ordered a jr. burger, small tots and drink. in the end i used 11 flex points. and honestly, i'm ok with it - i thought it out, avoided mayo and cheese and came home and promptly wrote it in my fancy moleskine journal.

thanks for listening.