6-6-06 / Still alive.

(warning - contains graphic bleeding descriptions) I had my first session of bleeding yesterday. It went OK. I didn't have any problems, the blood came out fast, and I was out of there in less than 40 minutes. I was hoping for a smaller needle, but that was not possible, as they only have one set of 'phlebotomy' equiptment. I think the needle was a 17 gauge (isn't that a shot gun?). It might as well have been a shot gun, the thing was huge. I don't watch them put the needle in for obvious reasons, but what they do is stick a big needle in your vein, that's hooked up to a tube, and then hook that clear tube up to a bottle, and then put the bottle on the floor, so gravity helps the process. I did look at the tube (for about 5 seconds), with blood flowing in it, and instead of coming out evenly, like a leak in a water balloon, it was pumping out. I don't know why that suprised me, but I guess it was the heart beating pumping blood out. I think the unit of blood was supposed to be a pint, but the bottle looked more like the size a litre.

Also, the Doc has setup parameters on my hematocrit (HCT) and hemoglobin (HGB), and if they are below a certain point, they will let me skip a week. Initially my HCT was 43 (back in April), and my HGB 15.5. Well yesterday, they were much lower (39 and 13.9), and I'm thinkin it was because of the stage race I completed the day before, and if not, I need to get some blood back in me, not bleed it out!!! Or get an altitude tent or something. At this point (and this opinion might change as I go throught this process further) I'm pretty sure that pro cyclist do in fact dope, or do something to keep their HCT as close to 50 (the limit) as they can. (or maybe it's an altitude tent?) I don't know if the stage race caused me to dehydrate, and that's what caused the low numbers, but in any case, those Pro tour riders are racing twice as far as I did yesterday, day after day. Go figure...

Anyway, the nurse was pretty sure my numbers would be lower next week and I wouldn't need to waste another unit of blood. (I say waste, because that's just what they do, throw it out). I think she was full of beans, and it was very clear from the start yesterday, that I knew much more of what I was going through than she did. I had to give her a little information on exactly why I was in there, and what this thing called Hemochromatosis is. I predict my HCT will be back above 40 next week, and HGB over 14, that would lead me to believe that I'm depleting a little bit of iron.

Oh yea, the Nurse, was from Minnesota. What's up with Nurses from Minnesota? My wife is from MN; she's a nurse. When we first got to Bend, her first interview was a Nurse from MN. When I busted up my ribs last year, the Nurse was from MN. Our friend Melissa is a nurse, and she's from MN. My mom's a nurse (she's still in MN though).

The world did not end, even though the date is 6-6-6. I didn't think it was going to.

Hopefully the Oilers can turn it around. It's gonna be tough after Roli went down, but we gotta believe. The cup does not belong in Carolina! Period!