(no subject)
I took my mom out to dinner for her birthday and, while we were there, we somehow ended up on the subject of my brother-in-law's health. I guess the antibiotics he's taking aren't agreeing with him. He's been told he will need to stay on them for the remainder of his life. My mom seemed to be mentally stuck on the concept of being told to take anything for the rest of your life. I think she equates that phrase with not living very long.
I couldn't help thinking that I've come away with a different take on that phrase since I need B12 for the rest of my life and I'm not planning on dropping dead anytime soon.
But I'm also starting to realize that, despite needing daily shots, I don't really think of myself as sick in any way. I seem to view a vitamin deficiency as something different than illness. I had such a negative reaction to the idea of getting an iron infusion when I read about it because I think of anything requiring an IV as some kind of serious illness. The two oposing views are currently duking it out in my head. The winner is yet to be determined.
The other thing I'm trying to wrap my brain around is the fact that I have drastically improved from where I was in 2008. I'm able to be more social and active now than I used to be. It was a slow decline into the state I was in five years ago, when I could barely make it through the workday and could do nothing more than sit on the couch once I got home at night. I now usually have the energy to practice music or run errands or even do a load of laundry once I get home. That is huge progress. Taking B12 seems like a minor price to pay for all of that.
I still have setbacks. Knowing that I have an iron problem (and what kind of iron problem it is) is good knowledge to have. It is tempting to think that, if I treated the iron problem, my remaining anemia symptoms would completely go away. What would life without dizzy spells be like? I suspect it would be similar to how it is now since I usually try to ignore them. I might not even notice they were gone.
It's probably a moot point since I may never be offered the chance to treat the iron problem. I suspect that most doctors would believe that I'm not sick enough to need it. And they'd be right, because I'm not sick. I just have vitamin issues.
I couldn't help thinking that I've come away with a different take on that phrase since I need B12 for the rest of my life and I'm not planning on dropping dead anytime soon.
But I'm also starting to realize that, despite needing daily shots, I don't really think of myself as sick in any way. I seem to view a vitamin deficiency as something different than illness. I had such a negative reaction to the idea of getting an iron infusion when I read about it because I think of anything requiring an IV as some kind of serious illness. The two oposing views are currently duking it out in my head. The winner is yet to be determined.
The other thing I'm trying to wrap my brain around is the fact that I have drastically improved from where I was in 2008. I'm able to be more social and active now than I used to be. It was a slow decline into the state I was in five years ago, when I could barely make it through the workday and could do nothing more than sit on the couch once I got home at night. I now usually have the energy to practice music or run errands or even do a load of laundry once I get home. That is huge progress. Taking B12 seems like a minor price to pay for all of that.
I still have setbacks. Knowing that I have an iron problem (and what kind of iron problem it is) is good knowledge to have. It is tempting to think that, if I treated the iron problem, my remaining anemia symptoms would completely go away. What would life without dizzy spells be like? I suspect it would be similar to how it is now since I usually try to ignore them. I might not even notice they were gone.
It's probably a moot point since I may never be offered the chance to treat the iron problem. I suspect that most doctors would believe that I'm not sick enough to need it. And they'd be right, because I'm not sick. I just have vitamin issues.