Can you imagine going to your annual physical, getting routine blood work, then a couple of days later, receiving a call from your doctor and she tells you in her Russian accent, “you must go to the ER immediately.” I couldn’t imagine that happening to me either, but recently it sure did. She proceeded to explain that I was chronically anemic and was at a level that could cause me to have a heart attack. In response, I couldn’t help but to say, “but I feel perfectly fine!” When I spoke to my mom who reminded that people die every day who “felt fine.” That’s a West Indian mom putting things into perspective for ya!
Well after checking myself into the ER at NYU Medical Center, I got a blood transfusion and iron injection and stayed overnight. Staying was actually pretty nice. The next day, I got to relax as they served me both breakfast and lunch, which included salmon, broccoli and potatoes. Wasn’t mad at that. When my stay was coming to a close, I was geared up to work on seriously increasing my iron intake moving forward and to devising a plan to manage my fibroid situation which is the culprit of the low hemoglobin count. Now my goal is to eat at least one time of day, an iron rich cruciferous veggie and take my iron tablets daily without skipping a day.
The whole thing was a bit of a scare, but it was necessary for me to know what was going on in my body which I was clearly oblivious about. I was also reminded that eating well, balancing work life, prioritizing healthy relationships, and self-care are of the utmost importance, yes, but medical doctors still play a role in our health care. Had I not gotten test done, I would’ve stayed in the dark. Now let me turn to you for a sec. Have you been up to date on your doctor’s appointments? As my blog friend, I encourage you to be on top of your check ins to the doctor. I’m talking gyno visits/pap smears, mammograms, blood work for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, diabetes screening and autoimmune deficiencies and anything else you think may apply to you, colonoscopies, etc. Get it all done. When we know where we are, we’ll know which direction to go, to get to where we need to be. Close out the year knowing what state your health is in so you know how to game plan for the rest of the year into the new one.
If you have any questions about my experience or want to share your own health story, please share below. We’d love to hear about it.
Love,
Yardley
