Hi All,
I had my last appointment with Dr. Neuwirth yesterday, and I think he definitely thinks I am prepared, from the questions I asked. I also donated blood yesterday. They were able to get out 410 cc's before the tap just STOPPED. The minimum is 300, and it took me 45 minutes to get out the 410. My husband and son also donated, and apparently they have BIG veins, and it took them only 10 minutes to pump out 450 cc's. Hurumph they were making fun of me. Anyway, the blood center paperwork said to take Ferrous Sulfate 300 mg 3x a day until surgery. At the drugstore this morning, I came home with 'Slow FE', slow release iron, which has only 47.5mg, and says to take 1-2 per day at bedtime. Will this be enough?
In the meantime, I had a burger after donation yesterday, I had steak for lunch today, and a friend of ours shot 2 deer and is giving them to us (yummy) and I plan to have Stir Fried Bambi every day until surgery. Along with spinich, beets, and all the other good stuff you're supposed to eat.
So I guess my question is, are these iron pills good enough? I don't want to end up constipated either. SHEESH I guess I'll have that after surgery anyway. I figured I'll also eat beans every day and that should help, besides the other medications they recommend.
One other thing--we took the train into the city, and on our way back, luckily for us, it was the HIGHT of rush hour, and I (ummm don't yell at me) almost fainted in Penn Station. I leaned against a wall and just plopped down on my butt. If I hadn't I would have just fallen over because the sides of my vision were starting to close in. I'm drinking lots of fluids and trying to rest today.
Did I tell you that I had to cancel out of my girls weekend this weekend? Sigh...my son is in crisis and needs me. Turns out his problems are related to my upcoming surgery. Turns out that I am the glue that holds the family together. He will be ok, he is in a much better space right now.
One other interesting piece of info. Remember that article I found about vision problems after surgery? It can happen, although it has never happened to him. He says there are lots of unknowns in this area, but they know that they shouldn't lower the blood pressure too much. Also they used to put the patient's head in a face-cradle kind of thing, which put too much pressure on the eyes. Instead, now they put the patient's head in traction so there isn't pressure on the face. I had to ask ( because you know me by now, right?) how they put your head in traction? PINS in the sides of your head. I was ok with it when I heard they don't have to shave off any of your hair to get the pins in. LOL I really worry about the important things, huh?
I had my last appointment with Dr. Neuwirth yesterday, and I think he definitely thinks I am prepared, from the questions I asked. I also donated blood yesterday. They were able to get out 410 cc's before the tap just STOPPED. The minimum is 300, and it took me 45 minutes to get out the 410. My husband and son also donated, and apparently they have BIG veins, and it took them only 10 minutes to pump out 450 cc's. Hurumph they were making fun of me. Anyway, the blood center paperwork said to take Ferrous Sulfate 300 mg 3x a day until surgery. At the drugstore this morning, I came home with 'Slow FE', slow release iron, which has only 47.5mg, and says to take 1-2 per day at bedtime. Will this be enough?
In the meantime, I had a burger after donation yesterday, I had steak for lunch today, and a friend of ours shot 2 deer and is giving them to us (yummy) and I plan to have Stir Fried Bambi every day until surgery. Along with spinich, beets, and all the other good stuff you're supposed to eat.
So I guess my question is, are these iron pills good enough? I don't want to end up constipated either. SHEESH I guess I'll have that after surgery anyway. I figured I'll also eat beans every day and that should help, besides the other medications they recommend.
One other thing--we took the train into the city, and on our way back, luckily for us, it was the HIGHT of rush hour, and I (ummm don't yell at me) almost fainted in Penn Station. I leaned against a wall and just plopped down on my butt. If I hadn't I would have just fallen over because the sides of my vision were starting to close in. I'm drinking lots of fluids and trying to rest today.
Did I tell you that I had to cancel out of my girls weekend this weekend? Sigh...my son is in crisis and needs me. Turns out his problems are related to my upcoming surgery. Turns out that I am the glue that holds the family together. He will be ok, he is in a much better space right now.
One other interesting piece of info. Remember that article I found about vision problems after surgery? It can happen, although it has never happened to him. He says there are lots of unknowns in this area, but they know that they shouldn't lower the blood pressure too much. Also they used to put the patient's head in a face-cradle kind of thing, which put too much pressure on the eyes. Instead, now they put the patient's head in traction so there isn't pressure on the face. I had to ask ( because you know me by now, right?) how they put your head in traction? PINS in the sides of your head. I was ok with it when I heard they don't have to shave off any of your hair to get the pins in. LOL I really worry about the important things, huh?
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