Too Much Information: Health Edition

A couple of months ago I went to my doctor and complained about sensitivity in my neck; weight loss; constipation; dry skin, hair, mouth, and nails; peeling nails; and hair loss. (I also felt like a slave to my stomach, I know that when you don't eat you obviously loose energy but for me it felt like if I did't feed myself every few hours in the morning or I just ended up totally wiped out. Despite eating breakfast at eight, snack at 12, and lunch at two, I would be dying all morning.)

The doctor kind of blew me off, she just said that I was probably dealing with a lot of stress, eat more fiber (which I am doing but it is not helping much), and you're good to go! She did however do a thyroid test, a test of how well my organs such as liver and kidneys are working, and a standard blood lab. The thyroid test came back okay, so did the liver and kidneys test, however the blood test showed a very high level of iron in my blood. They told me my iron level was at 260 and the top normal level is 170. After I did a quick Google search I learned that high iron can eventually lead to heart disease and diabetes. Not cool. At the time I was taking a multivitamin that gave me 100% of my daily value of iron so I quit taking it. I figured it could only help.

Now, I feel in the back of my head that the test result also indicated a low white blood cell count. I think it was blown over as just the result of some sort of infection I might have had at the time. I do not remember for sure but you'll see why I bring it up....

About a month later I had another blood test that checked my ferritin level. Ferritin is what stores iron in the blood. That came back normal.

About a month later I got another blood test. This one was just another standard blood lab, I forget what they call it but it just runs through basic stuff. This one came back showing normal iron, 130. However, my white blood cell count was definitely low this time. It measured 3.9/3900 instead of the 4.5/4500 that the doctor wanted to see.

So, after all that, I am being transfered to a blood doctor. The doctor works in a cancer center and I have an appointment next week. I am pretty nervous about it!

My husband thinks that the white blood cells are low because I have a UTI. I say that I don't have a UTI but I went ahead and peed on a stick leftover (but not expired) from when I had a legit UTI and kidney infection a little over a year ago. The test showed small amounts of white blood cells in my urine. I took the test again about a week later and it showed the same thing. I feel fine down there but it is a interesting observation.