Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sunday At The Office

OK, first off - We're not going to get too excited. It's important to note that it's only Day 2 of magnesium.

No numbness.

That's right, I woke up this morning and while I could feel a very faint tingling, my arms/hands, legs/feet were not numb. Also, no leg cramps.

The magnesium has been low all along. Could it be that chemo aggravated a latent situation? The range of normal is 1.5 to 2.3, as listed in the Myeloma Manager. But there are other reference ranges to be found. Tufts/NEMC reference range is 1.3 to 2.1. The website ChemoCare give a range of 1.5 to 2.5.

Looked at together my 1.6/1.7 looks fine.

So I could be looking at this too hard. Today may have just been a good day. Maybe it's not the magnesium level so much as the fact that I slept a lot and it wasn't drugged. And it was deep. But, the benefits of taking the magnesium are supposed to be better sleep and no leg cramps.....and that's what I got.

I've spent the entire day reading about labs and anemia and electrolytes and reference ranges and symptoms.

Overall, it seems that I am on the right track and one of the most important things I can do is be sure to drink 2 to 3 liters of water per day. It comes up in a lot of the recommendations having to do with kidney functions.

The other thing is to eat more protein. That comes up with the CBC results - low RBC, low HCT, low HGB. Although my O2 SATs are always good. I know because I can test it right here at my desk, lol!

So altogether, it seems I need to be on Atkins, even when I am not. I am on now, but when I fall off of Atkins, I still have eat lots of protein, dark green veggies and drink lots of water. That's the best I can offer, because you know I am going to fall off. For pity's sake....my birthday is in a few days. So there will be cake....but dinner will be meat and veggies.

No comments: