Friday, March 12, 2004
All tests have been added...
...and indexed to the Mom's Tests index.
The blood test may seem confusing, as some of the ranges have changed (in some cases, drastically), thus some of the results which are in or out of range were the opposite on previous tests. Most of the changes are as of 1/15/04 as per footnotes to the test results. However, the most important results, such as Hemoglobin and Hematocrit, are well within range and show marked improvement. All others are showing steady improvement toward normal ranges, except "% Saturation" in the iron tests. This one, though, isn't surprising. As well, the results appear to indicate that her anemia worsened between 2/10/04 and 3/05/04, before it began its reversal.
The Helicobacter Pylori test was ordered to determine whether this may be causing ulceration of the stomach and/or upper intestinal lining, leading to her anemia this time. The results were inconclusive and, at any rate, if this was a factor it no longer appears to be. Her PCP expressed again that she may very well be bleeding internally "a little" now and then, but since she is responding to non-invasive treatment and is not in mortal danger he expects to continue a course of iron supplementation and blood testing now and then to monitor it.
My feeling is that we will probably be dealing with bouts of anemia for the rest of her life and that there is a good chance, in her case, that even with extensive non-invasive testing it will not ever be determined whether her anemia is a result of internal bleeding. I'm still curious about the role metformin may be playing in her anemia but this area is still speculative within the medical community. I hope that my documentation of the idiosyncrasies of her anemia will contribute to the possibility of further research in this area.
The abdominal ultrasound, aside from revealing no abdominal aortic aneurysms, found nothing that hasn't already been documented except for one tiny kidney stone (cholelithiasis with 2mm wall thickness) which her PCP sees no reason to address unless the onset of belly pain indicates that it may be blocking or passing through a duct. All other conditions, including the cortical cysts (sacs of water on the kidneys) have been documented before, remain much as they were previously and do not beg treatment.
In short, the woman is doing well despite her mysterious bouts with anemia. Her PCP wants her to continue Prilosec OTC once a day for "a couple of months" to address the possibility of digestive lining ulceration, which we are doing. She will be evaluated for physical therapy and have a program of treatment outlined for her on Monday morning. The LPT who will be working with her lives just up the street, very convenient. Her PCP has indicated that the LPT has the leeway to determine all conditions which might benefit from therapy and, at this point, he will most likely approve everything the LPT wishes to address.
I'm extremely grateful that we have the ability and the resources to travel to and from Mesa for her primary non-alternative medical care, as I am tired of trying to deal with the medical community up here. I'm not worried about emergencies. The Yavapai Regional Medical Center is a good hospital for the handling of emergencies and now that she is firmly back in the care of her Mesa PCP I am certain that, if necessary, Mom can be med-evacked from here to The Valley for serious treatment. From the alternative health perspective, I am relieved that we are settled up here for the time being as, up to the 5th of March, the only people absolutely involved in the successful treatment and care of my mother have been myself, MCS and Mom's alternative health providers. She will be continuing acupuncture treatments every other week and if necessary I will seek out other alternative practitioners and treatments. Prescott may not be the best place to seek non-alternative medical care but it is an absolute haven for alternative practitioners. I'm glad her back crisis occurred up here as otherwise I probably would have never considered alternative care since the lack of decent non-alternative medical care would not have been a factor in Mesa. I'm very pleased with the gentleness, specificity and effectiveness of what's available in alternative healing. I just wish insurance companies would get their heads out of their asses about some of these treatments. In both the short and the long runs alternative healing saves the patient's eccentric dignity, is ultimately more capable of addressing problems without risking any harm (or, certainly not nearly as much as a seemingly benign visit to a non-alternative healer often presents) to the patient and saves money.
Well, goodness! If I plan to awaken to a full day of preparing for company I'd better get to bed. Damn! Nothing like a real nap to get my engines revving again!
The blood test may seem confusing, as some of the ranges have changed (in some cases, drastically), thus some of the results which are in or out of range were the opposite on previous tests. Most of the changes are as of 1/15/04 as per footnotes to the test results. However, the most important results, such as Hemoglobin and Hematocrit, are well within range and show marked improvement. All others are showing steady improvement toward normal ranges, except "% Saturation" in the iron tests. This one, though, isn't surprising. As well, the results appear to indicate that her anemia worsened between 2/10/04 and 3/05/04, before it began its reversal.
The Helicobacter Pylori test was ordered to determine whether this may be causing ulceration of the stomach and/or upper intestinal lining, leading to her anemia this time. The results were inconclusive and, at any rate, if this was a factor it no longer appears to be. Her PCP expressed again that she may very well be bleeding internally "a little" now and then, but since she is responding to non-invasive treatment and is not in mortal danger he expects to continue a course of iron supplementation and blood testing now and then to monitor it.
My feeling is that we will probably be dealing with bouts of anemia for the rest of her life and that there is a good chance, in her case, that even with extensive non-invasive testing it will not ever be determined whether her anemia is a result of internal bleeding. I'm still curious about the role metformin may be playing in her anemia but this area is still speculative within the medical community. I hope that my documentation of the idiosyncrasies of her anemia will contribute to the possibility of further research in this area.
The abdominal ultrasound, aside from revealing no abdominal aortic aneurysms, found nothing that hasn't already been documented except for one tiny kidney stone (cholelithiasis with 2mm wall thickness) which her PCP sees no reason to address unless the onset of belly pain indicates that it may be blocking or passing through a duct. All other conditions, including the cortical cysts (sacs of water on the kidneys) have been documented before, remain much as they were previously and do not beg treatment.
In short, the woman is doing well despite her mysterious bouts with anemia. Her PCP wants her to continue Prilosec OTC once a day for "a couple of months" to address the possibility of digestive lining ulceration, which we are doing. She will be evaluated for physical therapy and have a program of treatment outlined for her on Monday morning. The LPT who will be working with her lives just up the street, very convenient. Her PCP has indicated that the LPT has the leeway to determine all conditions which might benefit from therapy and, at this point, he will most likely approve everything the LPT wishes to address.
I'm extremely grateful that we have the ability and the resources to travel to and from Mesa for her primary non-alternative medical care, as I am tired of trying to deal with the medical community up here. I'm not worried about emergencies. The Yavapai Regional Medical Center is a good hospital for the handling of emergencies and now that she is firmly back in the care of her Mesa PCP I am certain that, if necessary, Mom can be med-evacked from here to The Valley for serious treatment. From the alternative health perspective, I am relieved that we are settled up here for the time being as, up to the 5th of March, the only people absolutely involved in the successful treatment and care of my mother have been myself, MCS and Mom's alternative health providers. She will be continuing acupuncture treatments every other week and if necessary I will seek out other alternative practitioners and treatments. Prescott may not be the best place to seek non-alternative medical care but it is an absolute haven for alternative practitioners. I'm glad her back crisis occurred up here as otherwise I probably would have never considered alternative care since the lack of decent non-alternative medical care would not have been a factor in Mesa. I'm very pleased with the gentleness, specificity and effectiveness of what's available in alternative healing. I just wish insurance companies would get their heads out of their asses about some of these treatments. In both the short and the long runs alternative healing saves the patient's eccentric dignity, is ultimately more capable of addressing problems without risking any harm (or, certainly not nearly as much as a seemingly benign visit to a non-alternative healer often presents) to the patient and saves money.
Well, goodness! If I plan to awaken to a full day of preparing for company I'd better get to bed. Damn! Nothing like a real nap to get my engines revving again!
