Hi everyone. Thank you all for your concern. I am doing ok physically, just tired. How I'm doing emotionally is another story.
Just to let you all know, my beautiful friend Dana did not die from iron overload, or organ failure due to Thalassemia. She had some of her teeth pulled, before having her braces put on, and bacteria from her teeth ended up in her blood. It then ended up in her mediport. She eventually went septic, developed a bunch of clots, had a few strokes and then went into cardiac arrest. They were able to revive her, but she was extremely brain dead while on life support. So, her parents had the horrible decision of keeping her alive or not. They did not want to see Dana suffer any longer, so they decided to take her off the machines.
The wake was extremely difficult, and it took a toll on me. I am close to her parents as well, and seeing them and their devastation was sickening. I'm so tired of losing friends/loved ones.
I just didn't want you guys to worry about it being something directly related to Thal. I'm sure having Thal didn't help it, and neither did the mediport, but it was bacteria from her teeth that eventually made her go septic. This is actually the second Thal friend of mine that has died from their teeth, though, so please be careful when having work done on your teeth. If any of you have a heart problem, even if it's a murmur, you need to be pre-medicated with antibiotics before having any kind of dental work done (even if it's just a cleaning!). If you don't have a heart problem, but you have Thalassemia, and are getting teeth pulled or some other kind of work done, speak to your doctor about whether or not he wants to pre-medicate you anyway, just in case.
I'll be around again. I'm just going through a lot right now.
As a matter of fact, I just found out while getting blood yesterday, that I don't have ONE herniated disk in my neck ... I have THREE. So, my doctors are talking to me about getting that surgically taken care of also. I wonder why I was told I only had one a few months back. My MRI report says I have three.
Sooooo, after the stomach surgery, I'll be dealing with my neck, because I cannot take the back pain or numb hands anymore.
I hope to God that you are all doing MUCH better than I am. I think about you guys all the time. I promise I'll try to post more.
Love you guys!