Back home from my quarterly labs and scans. The reports are already available to me in the online portal. The speed still amazes me.

It took three attempts, and three different people, to get a good stick today, but they were all being very careful and cautious, and I think I may not have much in the way of bruising. Time will tell.

The results were mostly good. HbA1c and non-fasting glucose are both much improved. Thank you, metformin! Kidney function is much improved. PSA is still only just barely detectable. CT and bone scans report no growing lesions and no new lesions.

Lymphocytes are low but WBC is solidly mid-range, and all the little -phils are also mid-range.

The only disappointing result is that my anemia is noticeably worse. Hemoglobin is down, hematocrit is down. RBC is down. ::sigh:: I suppose I'll have to increase my spinach consumption.

The clinical trial in which I am enrolled will stop tracking patients in November, so my labs&scans will be less frequent next year. Yay for fewer sticks!

Meanwhile, life is pretty quiet, and I am hoping to keep it that way.

Anemia is a drag. Are iron pills no good? They don't do me any good, but I have heard they can be very effective. I like to see all those "much improved" notes!

I love spinach any way you serve it to me. My sister does liver and onions before she gives blood to up her iron.

Are iron pills no good?

I've been taking a daily pill with 65mg iron + 125mg vitamin C for about a year and a half. I can't tell that it has made any difference.

Six weeks ago my anemia was much improved, almost to the low end of normal. This time it tested much worse. No idea why. Oh, well.

Huh, weird. I hope it decides to head back towards normal again

dcp, other than the odd anemia, those sound like good results.

What are they eating that makes them blue?

Morphine popsicles.

So THAT'S where the popsicles are!

Timelies all!

Recovering after the long weekend. Mostly, not enough sleep thanks to Mr. S.(How did we end up with a morning person?)

Meanwhile, my mom's back in the hospital with another UTI. Poor her. Poor my dad, who is stressed out about this.

I was sufficiently spooked by the dude yesterday that I lowered all my windows enough to engage the little safety lever again.

dcp, I'm glad the results seem mostly good. Maybe have a baked potato stuffed with spinach souffle?

Sardines, anchovies, and mackerel per the calendar, my source of truth on blue-footed boobies

Fascinating! Is it just their feet, or is that the only part not covered by feathers? When I was a toddler carrots made up a high enough proportion of my diet to make me turn slightly orange.

The only disappointing result is that my anemia is noticeably worse. Hemoglobin is down, hematocrit is down. RBC is down. ::sigh:: I suppose I'll have to increase my spinach consumption.

Have you checked/changed your B12 status recently? B12 deficiency is very common in those aged 50+ (regardless of diet) and can hide or mimic iron deficiency anemia by lowering all those markers. If you recently started taking B12, it could be you've revealed the true nature of your iron levels or, if you are deficient in B12, it might be lowering those markers on its own, though the six-week time frame for the change might make that possibility unlikely. But I do know someone whose B12 deficiency seemed to come on fairly suddenly and doctors often seem to only consider the possibility if one is vegetarian/vegan (despite something like 20% of those 60+ being deficient).

Yay for all those good values though, dcp, especially the PSA!

I am leaving on my trip tomorrow!! Ahhh am not ready. I mostly packed tonight but still need to repack and do some rearranging and stuff. Hoping I packed the right things. It’s going to be hot (Korea and Thailand) but somehow even though it was just summer here I have not enough appropriate clothes? Or something.