u/GameofCheese

Anyone else who had lymphadenectomies have numb necks and chins?

I currently can't sleep because my chin is so itchy, but it's phantom itching.

I'm 4 years out so it's not regenerative nerves anymore, right?

Anything that works?

Thanks!

My ferritin was 19. (Also have low D and B13 and getting supplements)

Just finished a round of Venofer. Seeing the doctor in a few days. I'm wondering what levels I should advocate for more infusions?

My doctor is pretty cool, she believed me when I had long covid and took it seriously.

But we'll see.

What goal ferritin and iron values should I try to reach for?

Thanks!

Edit: it was 5 infusions over 5 weeks.

Omg. I'm still so mad 4 days later:

Had a panic attack coming into my old cancer center. I'm 100% recovered and cancer free, I just had to go for an iron infusion.

I'm 4 years out of head and neck cancer, and because of tongue radiation, I couldn't eat or drink water for 5 weeks because it was literally like poison to my brain. So, I had to do saline infusions to stay hydrated. I was there A LOT.

It's a very nice cancer center, and a lot of money is pumped in for services as it was created in memory of a famous individual by a foundation. Top notch care and medical excellence.

All the staff calmed me down, helped get me feeling good enough to be roomed. My nurse was sweet, got the iron, was waiting for 30 minutes for post-observation, and some plain saline.

That's when it happened...

I hear the nurses at the station directly across from me, outside my curtained cubicle, start bitching about transgender people. Specifically, one nurse was complaining about a family member or friend coming out, I believe.

I was thrown off so much by the topic being discussed in general, that it took me a couple minutes to even comprehend what was happening.

Surely a nurse, in a top notch CANCER center would know better than to say the following:

"At least he said he wasn't gay, he still liked women. But I told him you're not a woman, you're a man. You have a penis!"

All of a sudden the realization of what was happening clicked.

This wasn't a nurse educating in a private spot about trans care in the oncology setting. This was a BIGOTED nurse, completely ignorant and dismissive of medical science, voicing a personal story in a COMPLETELY inappropriate public patient care area.

Once the shock of what I was hearing passed, I thought to myself, "Hell fucking no, we're not doing this." Unplugged my pole, went to the curtain and popped out like a teacher in charge of disobedient children.

I wanted to use maturity, so I sternly said: "You need to remember that you are in a fishbowl, people can hear you. My partner is trans, and I really don't need to hear that stuff, especially when I'm already having such a bad day!" I choked up at the end. I was still so raw from the medical ptsd stuff. I looked face to face, straight in the eyes of each nurse with a death glare.

I went back to the room and fumed. It went dead quiet.

My nurse came back when my IV was over, and although she wasn't the main perpetrator, her hands were shaking.

I went home, wrote a strongly yet very eloquently written letter to the management, including all the events good and bad, and my expectations that no one should go through anything like that again.

The next morning at 8 AM I got a call from the nurse manager. She was PISSED.

Apparently she had already been after everyone for even just being silly at the nursing stations, since they had gotten complaints before. Also, apparently, one of the nurses self-reported and warned that she might get a patient complaint.

She told me that she had called her boss because she was so upset, and that they were likely going to get HR involved.

I'm hoping they write up the nurse or fire her altogether depending on her situation.

If you are (I assume) MAGA, you are not really a medical professional and have no business taking care of patients.

I'm still so angry. My girlfriend has sat with me in those rooms before when I was so weak from chemo she practically had to carry me.

What if it had been one of those days?

It's fucking PRIDE MONTH!

Do these people EVER think about anyone but themselves??

Just needed to vent.

I'm so sorry if you or your precious partners have ever had any discrimination in the medical setting.

Thank you for reading.

I'm an idiot. I got my iud out, started getting periods again, and suffer from disordered eating and am a garbage vegetarian due to extreme fatigue and being poor.

Had no idea l could be deficient, and I had bad eating disorders that were constantly monitored and treated for 25 years.

I just assumed everything was cool since the doctors always check your cbc. Had no idea they have to check Ferritin, which they rarely do.

Anyway, I'm going to be getting iron infusions and was directed to supplement my low b12 with b complex and am getting Vit D script too.

I want to keep my levels up, so what do you guys do for food?

Increase my cereal intake? Just eat some spinach everyday? Etc?

Thanks!