Alrighty folks.....well, that was scary....but I'm back in the saddle now, more or less.
First, thank you so much you guys for all your well wishes, concern & help; it means more to me than you'll ever know.
So....I went to the ER on Thursday morning after TWO (read that, TWO) different doctors (at TWO different offices) wouldn't see me and suggested I go to the ER. Nice.
I guess it's a good thing because with a hemoglobin level at 6.8, I was told that I could very well have passed out while driving, may not be getting enough oxygen to the 'ol noggin and/or not have enough blood in me to survive a serious accident.
So after my mother (who is a nurse) tracked me down in the ER and yelled at the poor nurses there to get me on the phone and begged me to only get 1 unit of blood when the doctor was advising I get 3 (which is a sh!tload of blood that I lost - for those who wanna know...1 unit is like 450 ml's...so 3 is 1,350 ml's....which is almost 2 bottles of wine or a 1-liter water bottle + a 1/3 of another), I went ahead and took the good doctor's advice and agreed to the 3 units.
Yeah, I was that low.
So they took real good care of me, admitted me and I stayed 2 nights in the hospital. On Friday, I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy to figure out where the bleeding was coming from. I've had a colonoscopy before and it's really no biggie. Even drinking the bowel prep the night before wasn't too bad (like salt water). The upper endoscopy was a bit nasty & violent as I guess I had to be awake while they shoved the scope down my throat (and I ain't talkin' mouthwash). Talk about gagging...
So the results came back and we were really relieved to find out that there was no bleeding coming from deep within my body; it was coming from my a$$ and probably the best case it could have been.
So obviously, my hemoglobin & other levels went up a bit (and stayed up) after the transfusions and the doc was satisfied enough to let me get the hell out of there on Saturday after 2 nights.
And let me tell you, this was my first overnight stay in a hospital and it sure feels better being on the outside. I was going absolutely crazy in there.
So now I just have to be a little more aware, a little more careful and monitor the situation, eat healthy, drink some Metamucil and have stuff high in iron & fiber and hopefully I'll stop bleeding completely.
I'll go in to the doc this week or next Monday for another bloodtest to check my levels and make sure things have improved.
Again, thank you so much for all your help and good wishes; I definitely felt the good vibes you guys.
And some of you, just some of you, have no shame.....what're 'ya thinking bombing a guy when he's down, huh??? (Gerard, Francis....not naming any names or anything....
It's much much appreciated guys, thank you so much)