I have always fought for patients to have good quality of life. In order to live a good quality life we must take care of our bodies and mind. We are responsible to learn as much as we can about our own bodies from learning about our family and ancestor's health issues. We can also pay attention to our own health issues and journal our symptoms. Our symptoms such as aches and pains and unusual feelings of fatigue, depression, anxiety and anything that is making it hard for you to feel good are warning sign that something is wrong. Our bodies are amazing and they are created to signal us that something is wrong. Sometimes we need the help of a doctor to ensure that we do have a good quality life. If anyone is suffering and feels that they are being belittled or brushed of by a doctor they owe it to their self to find a doctor that will work with them to insure that they have good quality health care.
I am going to keep writing about my family's health issues concerning B12 and folate issues until doctors start understanding that these deficiencies are debilitating and if left untreated are fatal. There is a part of me that wants to blame the insurance companies that have paralyzed our doctors from thinking outside the box. I see however that a doctor dismissing a patient because a test will not be covered is irresponsible on the part of the doctor. Both the doctor and the patient need to speak to the insurance company and our government leaders to insure quality care. We can fight to insure all Americans have health insurance, but if we don't fight some of the regulations set in place by insurance companies then we have failed to insure the patient's quality of life.
I have had health issues since birth from B12 and folate deficiencies passed to me from my mother. With the help of my dad I was able to track back my health issues. Some time back in the early 2003 after several bouts of severe back pain, a back X-ray was done on me and it was determined that I had cogential anomalies of the spine. I have since learned that this was the result of a folate deficiency of my mother during pregnancy. My mother had taken prenatal vitamins and she also had a very healthy diet. She was probably unable to breakdown folic acid due to absorption and genetic issues passedfrom my grandmother who had PA. My mother then breast fed me and I did not get a lot of B12 and folate from her as it is now evident in playing a roll in my inability to walk. I was diagnosed with weak and floopy muscles as a baby and had braces that I wore to turn my feet outward as I was severely pigeon toed. My dad still has the braces. My parents were told that I may never walk. I proved them wrong and it was probably the result of a B12 deficiency from my depleted mother. When I started eat table food (meat and milk) I improved and started walking. My B12 and folate was probably rising and in the mean time my mother was suffering from extreme anxiety and a host of other health problems. She was not tested for B12 and nor was I. A simple test that could have made a huge difference in our quality of life. I wrote about my walking issues in this blog a couple of years ago as the half marathon I walked meant more to me and my dad that anyone can imagine.
Please doctors study the symptoms of B12 deficiencies and refresh yourself with the physiology behind the disease. Don't let insurance companies tell you vitamin deficiencies don't exist because our food sources are fortified. There are many people that have absorption problems for crucial vitamins. Also just because a patient is not anemic does not mean that they are not deficient. Macrocytic Anemia does usually present it self in patients until stage four of the disease and by then the deficiency has progressed and has caused neurological damage to the body.
B12 is essential for the production of red blood cells and the myelin sheaths of the nerves. A low level can be obscured by a high folic acid level. A good website to understand more about pernicious anemia is The Pernicious Anemia Society. Please help make screening for B12 routinely a part of complete blood cell counts especially if a patient is complaining of the symptoms of a B12 deficiency.
Life is beautiful !
Elizabeth:)
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Saturday, January 13, 2018
The Truth Will Calm The Curious Mind
I awoke early this morning and started tossing and turning. My husband is still sleeping and I laid there watching him and then decided to get up. I have been hibernating since Christmas as we are having a crappy winter. We just had another winter storm come through and for the first time in 34 years my husband was released from work early due to ice. I just looked out the window and we now have several inches of snow on ice along with 35 mile wind gust. The high today will be 15 degrees. I hate to rush life but I am ready for spring.
I am sitting here and I looked up to see my medal hanging off the corner of a picture from a half marathon in 2013. I remember how proud I was that I was able to finish. My husband and I walked it along with several thousand other people. It was for the LLS in San Antonio Tx. I am amazed that I was able to finish the walk. I remember how bad I felt for weeks after that and I now know it was the pernicious anemia working on me. My adrenline must have kicked in and allowed me to finish. I then completed a 10k walk in Cleveland in May of 2015. That was my last walk as I told my husband that I just couldn't do it anymore as I was extremely fatigued and hurt all over. The body is an amazing thing as I realize now how bad I felt.
I told my husband on New Years Eve that I couldn't believe how much better I felt since being treated for the B12 deficiency. Since my childhood I had had long stretches where I felt badly and I had adapted and did not know what it was like to feel good. Feeling bad was just a way of life. Now that I feel better I never want to feel that bad again.
I think about my mother and all her health problems and how badly she must have felt. She used to clutch her head.and cry because she felt extremely agitated My dad and I understand now the cognitive issues, peripheral Neuropathy, and Raynard's that she had were probably a result of her untreated pernicious anemia. A doctor had put her on steroids and it made her anxiety worse. She was on steroids for more than 10 years. No one ever checked her B12 levels that we know of. She also had Sjorgens disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I think her death traumatized the whole family. Perhaps a different outcome if someone had checked those B12 levels as she was diagnosed with low red blood cell count and a high MCV by a hematologist that dismissed her as he said he didn't know what was causing it. We can't turn back time but we can certainly learn from such a horrific death.
Her death certainly played a part in my anxiety during my husband's cancer journey and I believe that I was in denial about my own heath issues. I did not want anyone to die the way my mother did. I have spent the last six years of my life trying to heal my mind and body. My curious mind can rest now knowing that under all the suffering my mother endured she loved me. She was just beneath a mountain of pain.
Those smiles from god will surely be blooming this spring !
Life is beautiful !
Elizabeth:)
I am sitting here and I looked up to see my medal hanging off the corner of a picture from a half marathon in 2013. I remember how proud I was that I was able to finish. My husband and I walked it along with several thousand other people. It was for the LLS in San Antonio Tx. I am amazed that I was able to finish the walk. I remember how bad I felt for weeks after that and I now know it was the pernicious anemia working on me. My adrenline must have kicked in and allowed me to finish. I then completed a 10k walk in Cleveland in May of 2015. That was my last walk as I told my husband that I just couldn't do it anymore as I was extremely fatigued and hurt all over. The body is an amazing thing as I realize now how bad I felt.
I told my husband on New Years Eve that I couldn't believe how much better I felt since being treated for the B12 deficiency. Since my childhood I had had long stretches where I felt badly and I had adapted and did not know what it was like to feel good. Feeling bad was just a way of life. Now that I feel better I never want to feel that bad again.
I think about my mother and all her health problems and how badly she must have felt. She used to clutch her head.and cry because she felt extremely agitated My dad and I understand now the cognitive issues, peripheral Neuropathy, and Raynard's that she had were probably a result of her untreated pernicious anemia. A doctor had put her on steroids and it made her anxiety worse. She was on steroids for more than 10 years. No one ever checked her B12 levels that we know of. She also had Sjorgens disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I think her death traumatized the whole family. Perhaps a different outcome if someone had checked those B12 levels as she was diagnosed with low red blood cell count and a high MCV by a hematologist that dismissed her as he said he didn't know what was causing it. We can't turn back time but we can certainly learn from such a horrific death.
Her death certainly played a part in my anxiety during my husband's cancer journey and I believe that I was in denial about my own heath issues. I did not want anyone to die the way my mother did. I have spent the last six years of my life trying to heal my mind and body. My curious mind can rest now knowing that under all the suffering my mother endured she loved me. She was just beneath a mountain of pain.
Those smiles from god will surely be blooming this spring !
Life is beautiful !
Elizabeth:)
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