Some of you may have noticed I've not been feeling up to par these past few days. Well yesterday Dr. Bond called me (Dr. Bond is my attending this month on family practice) with the lab results from the blood he drew on Monday. It turns out that I do in fact have mono. It also seems that my liver has shut down (for the time being). So all the symptoms I listed in the last blog have now been confirmed with lab values. I'll teach you what each value means later today when I have the exact numbers.
So the plan today is to get a steroid shot. Kayla's step-dad Jerome is going to pick me up here at Kayla's place in Friendswood, drive me to Dr. Bond's office in Alief, take me to my house to get my passport (to apply for my Visa) and some new clothes, and then lug me back to Kayla's place. This is truly incredible (he'll practically be driving me the circumference of Houston). Kayla tells me that both sides of her family have been thinking about me, which I think is really special and quite heartwarming. I think I've really lucked out with this whole deal. I wish I could stop being such a pain and get over this thing.
I other news, I get to cancel my $1,000 Step 2 which I'm slated to take on Friday. Happily the nice people at the NBME are going to waive my $150 rescheduling fee due to documented illness. Thank goodness!
Lab Results (with the normal range in parentheses):
Liver Panel
Total Bilirubin 3.6 (.2-1.5)
Indirect Bilirubin 2.1 (0-1.5)
AST 296 (2-50)
ALT 740 (2-60)
Alk Phos 595 (20-125)
Blood Count
White Blood Cells 21.2 (3.8-10.8)
Absolute Lymphocytes 14416 (850-3900)
Absolute Monocytes 1272 (200-950)
Heterophile, Mono Screen Positive (negative)
Bilirubin is the leftovers after a red blood cell dies. It then gets processed in the liver and can be elevated when red blood cells start to explode too quickly or when the liver isn't working. The liver conjugates indirect bilirubin to direct bilirubin. My indirect bilirubin is high, meaning the liver isn't "conjugating" the bilirubin properly indicating dysfunction. Also, the AST, ALT, and Alk Phos are greatly elevated. These are compounds that are released from all sorts of tissues (including the liver) when there is damage. The numbers speak for themselves.
My white blood cell count is very elevated, which means my body is currently making tons of white blood cells to attack the virus causing my infection (Ebstein Barr Virus).
Now that I've had my steroid shot, hopefully some of the inflammation in my body will go down. We'll just have to wait and see. The worst part about all this is my stupid sore throat which not even Vicodin is taming. Ugh...it will all be ok.
So the plan today is to get a steroid shot. Kayla's step-dad Jerome is going to pick me up here at Kayla's place in Friendswood, drive me to Dr. Bond's office in Alief, take me to my house to get my passport (to apply for my Visa) and some new clothes, and then lug me back to Kayla's place. This is truly incredible (he'll practically be driving me the circumference of Houston). Kayla tells me that both sides of her family have been thinking about me, which I think is really special and quite heartwarming. I think I've really lucked out with this whole deal. I wish I could stop being such a pain and get over this thing.
I other news, I get to cancel my $1,000 Step 2 which I'm slated to take on Friday. Happily the nice people at the NBME are going to waive my $150 rescheduling fee due to documented illness. Thank goodness!
Lab Results (with the normal range in parentheses):
Liver Panel
Total Bilirubin 3.6 (.2-1.5)
Indirect Bilirubin 2.1 (0-1.5)
AST 296 (2-50)
ALT 740 (2-60)
Alk Phos 595 (20-125)
Blood Count
White Blood Cells 21.2 (3.8-10.8)
Absolute Lymphocytes 14416 (850-3900)
Absolute Monocytes 1272 (200-950)
Heterophile, Mono Screen Positive (negative)
Bilirubin is the leftovers after a red blood cell dies. It then gets processed in the liver and can be elevated when red blood cells start to explode too quickly or when the liver isn't working. The liver conjugates indirect bilirubin to direct bilirubin. My indirect bilirubin is high, meaning the liver isn't "conjugating" the bilirubin properly indicating dysfunction. Also, the AST, ALT, and Alk Phos are greatly elevated. These are compounds that are released from all sorts of tissues (including the liver) when there is damage. The numbers speak for themselves.
My white blood cell count is very elevated, which means my body is currently making tons of white blood cells to attack the virus causing my infection (Ebstein Barr Virus).
Now that I've had my steroid shot, hopefully some of the inflammation in my body will go down. We'll just have to wait and see. The worst part about all this is my stupid sore throat which not even Vicodin is taming. Ugh...it will all be ok.
2 Comments:
get well sewn
Tank U
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