My blood test results have never been this bad before. This is worse than November. 

CBC test results show the terrible state of my blood health.

By the way, if you click on an image in my blog, it enlarges. 

Kidney & Liver panel show low protein, low calcium, low sodium -- I'm a mess!
(The high creatinine and low eGFR are typical for me, I have had chronic kidney failure for 12 years. This is a moderate condition, it's not too bad, historically, for me.)

This shows the iron in my blood. Though I've been taking iron daily!

All I can say to myself now is:

DON'T PANIC

And all I can do for myself today is eat more red meat, take more iron with vitamin C, and stop consuming phytate! What is phytate? Good question! Have you ever heard of it before? Me neither. 

Once again, I am thankful to the Cronometer nutrition tracking app for educating me on this most important fact. Why do doctors fail to mention this? And why has my primary physician failed to refer me to a registered dietitian? I mentioned two or three times to her that I wanted to speak with a registered dietitian. I need a referral. It's like that patient request did not even register at all! Why? It's so frustrating to find out by happenstance that the dietary regiment I have strictly followed since surgery last year (two sections of my digestive tract were removed) -- to find out that for nine months I have been eating all wrong for someone diagnosed with anemia! 

The only thing the doctor said is, "Take iron." 

The second time, when results were worse, the doctor said, "Take vitamin C with iron, and it's best to take it on an empty stomach, if you can tolerate it."

For months I have been taking iron in liquid form and a vitamin C gummy at the same time. On an empty stomach. And my anemia is worse! Why? Oh, phytates bind with iron and other key minerals and prevent their absorption! WTAF?! 

Does it not occur to MDs that there is more to treating anemia than taking iron? It is pretty useless to take iron when you are eating a lot of foods that have phytic acid, which produces phytate, which binds to iron and prevents its absorption. Duh. A registered dietitian would have known that! Why are MDs so ignorant and/or careless about dietary facts?

I am so frustrated and pissed off and freaking out. How am I even able to function with my red blood cell count so low? 

I have been feeling fatigued, mild muscle weakness, and occasionally light-headed. I certainly didn't feel this anemic! I started experiencing pulsatile tinnitus -- a weird little symptom, another thing I had never heard of before -- something to do with blood pressure increasing to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the blood due to anemia, and it causes a noise in the inner ear that is like a squeaky pulse. I searched "squeaky pulse in ear" and actually discovered this is a thing and it is associated with anemia, among other things. OMG. How is my health care in the hands of these MDs? I have a primary care physician and an oncologist (monitoring NHL SLL/CLL type lymphoma), and neither of them thought to ask me about my diet, and the PCP failed to refer me to a RD though I asked twice, maybe three times. I'm so over it. The health care system is utterly hopeless. What are they training MDs to do -- prescribe pharmaceuticals for everything? Yeah. It appears to be the case in America. 

Big sigh. Now, don't panic. What to do. 

Well, for immediate remedy, I did this:

Steak & Eggs

And this modification to my diet: 

Omega 3-6-7-9 Supplement
(Brand: Mary Ruth's, Form: Gummies)

Instead of getting omegas from chia, hemp, flax, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds and walnuts, I'll get them from a supplement and stop eating foods that are high in phytic acid. I am also stopping Brazil nuts as a source of selenium (another important antioxidant) and getting selenium from beef. 

I was eating turkey, chicken, tuna and salmon -- these proteins, while great for other reasons, are not good sources of iron. Red meat is. In that single serving of steak I had for breakfast, I get all of this...

Protein 67g

Choline supports metabolism. Very important. 
Plus, look at those Nutrition Scores!

All those B vitamins and most important: 0 Phytate!

82% of my daily iron need (and I will supplement this)

Look at all those minerals -- Phosphorous, Potassium, Selenium, Zinc!!

It was pretty lean, and has some omegas. 

Why was I not eating more beef sooner? Because my doctor was concerned about Amylase test results and pancreatitis and told me to go on a low fat diet. Beef is higher in fat than poultry. However, all it took was a few months on a low fat diet, and the Amylase result was back to normal. So I will eat lean beef, and avoid cheese and other saturated fats. 

I just hope I can turn this anemia situation around! If it gets any worse, I will need a blood transfusion and that is a risk I prefer to avoid. Hopefully, this blood condition is not due to a bone marrow situation. It could be. NHL SLL/CLL, if it progresses to the bone marrow, could be the cause, but I am not going to consent to invasive procedures. If it cannot be corrected with diet, so be it. I will not cling to this world. There is only so much I am willing to do to keep this body functional. C'est la vie. 

Peace be with you.

❤