So, my battle with my liver has landed me in the hospital once again. I went yesterday to get some routine blood tests and they came back with a dangerously low Hemoglobin Count of 6.3. The normal range for males is 13.5 – 17.5. Because the liver carries out over 500 functions in the body, when it’s not working as designed, it can lead to many other illnesses. One common symptom is anemia, which I have, which basically translates to less oxygen in my blood.
How do they fix it? Blood transfusion. Since this rollercoaster ride began back in September of 2019, I’ve probably been given 15 or more pints of hemoglobin-rich blood to immediately give my system a boost.
So I’m back again…still determined to beat this thing, and hoping that healthy donor liver becomes available sooner rather than later. I was told l would likely wait 1-4 months before the right organ becomes available and we’re just passing into month 3 since I was officially put on the national donor list. Unfortunately a partial transplant from a living donor is not an option in my case, but thank you to the several family and friends that have offered…that’s truly amazing.
Advent Hospital in Orlando is one of the top liver transplant hospitals in the world, and I am lucky to live only a few miles away. My team of doctors, nurses and techs are caring, knowledgable and treat me like a member of their family, so I try my best to keep them entertained (my current leading complaint I tell them that I specifically requested an oceanside view) 🙂
The hospital itself is relatively empty, no visitors due to Covid-19 and they have all of the Covid patients quarantined in a different building. I never ever thought I’d be dealing with liver disease, compounded by a worldwide pandemic. The Universe keeps throwing curveballs at me.
But when life throws you curveballs, you gotta make some curveball-ade!
– Diggz
P.S. Thank you all for your continued support of kind words and gifts of home-cooked meals and my special team of family and friends who check in on me multiple times a day. I feel truly blessed knowing so many people care, which is one reason I try to post updates like this one. You can also help by making a tax-deductible donation at http://donate.diggz.org.
