Well, I had a blood transfusion today and feel somewhat better. When I got to the hospital at 11:30 am, they said they were not expecting me until tomorrow, but they did have the blood and worked me into their schedule. Another mix-up between the clinic on the first floor and the transfusion unit on the third floor, complicated by the blood bank being somewhere else. Seems like 48 hours should be plenty of time to get everything together. They started the transfusion about 1pm and I was home by 5:30 pm.
Yesterday, though I worked about 9 1/2 hours, I still realized that my hemoglobin was at one of its lowest levels ever. I knew it was below 7.5 from the day before. My wife asked me later whether having an oxygen tank would have helped. Possibly, but there are a number of factors involved and in my case, the low red blood cell count and low hemoglobin level is the driving factor. I am still affected by the blood clots in my lungs that reduce the blood flow. When I first experienced breathing problems back in November 2004, my local doctor thought it might be asthma, which would have affected the airflow. My hemoglobin was higher (11) at the time and oxygen helped overcome the reduced blood flow. They ruled out the asthma factor once the blood clots were discovered.
Another big factor is the level of oxygen in the air, typically about 21 percent. But that is not a pure number since it is affected by other air gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide and the humidity. For example, by the end of the church service last Sunday, I was short of breath and eager to get outside for some good air. (It may not be the sermon that puts the congregation to sleep! Just kidding, Pastor, but some more oxygen would help.) Also, this morning when taking a shower, I had problems breathing because of the humidity of the air. Check out the Occupational Hazards web site article, paragraph on the Respiratory System, for more details.
4 comments:
What good news that Jim matches on 8 of the HLA factors. Bob Lee knows Phil Dyrud who had a BMT at the U. He is out of the hospital now and doing well. The funny thing is that the DNA in the saliva of one who has had BMT is that of the donor. The DNA in the blood remains that of the one who received the BMT. So if you commit a crime, (HA) be sure to leave blood and not saliva behind. (Just a warning.)
You continue in my prayers that the Lord would heal you if He so wills, but especially that He would grant you His grace and strength for these trying days. I can tell from your writing how the Lord has sustained you and given you hope and joy. Keep looking up.
Love,
You may have the saliva/marrow DNA reversed, but definitely appears to be possible according to the following:
From - http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/shows/2005.12.04.htm
Question: Ethe in Suffolk - I've heard that bone marrow transplants can cause havoc with DNA testing. Is this the case, and if so, how can the problem be resolved?
Answer: You're right. A bone marrow transplant can cause a problem because what you essentially become is a mixture of two people. Someone takes away your normal bone marrow and replaces it with the bone marrow of somebody else in order to make up for the damage caused by your own bone marrow. This means that you potentially leave behind two DNA fingerprints at a crime scene and could even implicate your donor.
Also from
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/shows/2005.03.13.htm
Question: If you had a stem cell transplant, would your DNA change?
Answer: fantastic question! It's not just stem cells you need to consider, but indeed any type of organ transplant or tissue donation. Another person, unless they are your identical twin, will have DNA different from your own. The reason lung transplants or bone marrow transplants actually work is because you are substituting dodgy tissue for healthy tissue. At the same time, you are replacing a gene that has gone wrong by putting in a healthy copy of the gene. That means the DNA in the tissue you've replaced will be different. The rest of your body won't change. If you do a bone marrow stem cell transplant for someone with leukaemia, the cells that you will have inside your bone marrow will come from your donor. Therefore, they will also be genetically identical to the donor. This means that a man who receives a bone marrow transplant from a lady will have bone marrow cells that have two X chromosomes. Sometimes people can even see a change in their blood group.
Note in the last comment, the final parts of the urls should be:
2005.12.04.htm and 2005.03.13.htm
Somehow blogger cut off the ends.
all of this is interesting. I'm glad you are feeling better dad.
Post a Comment