TMI post--menstruation and bleeding.

so, it's a scary morning... or was. this is all going to be gross and TMI for many. don't read further if you're queasy or squidgy about blood.

so--yesterday i had a blood draw. went in at 8:30am and because i was puffy from the edema, and likely dehydrated from the diuretic, they had a hard time getting to a vein. one stick in the elbow, some digging. no blood. i suggested the back of my hand. i hate the digging. while the back of my hand hurts while they do it, it is usually pretty straight forward. anyway, they got some blood. left a nice bruise in my elbow and i went home.

oh, and when i got up, my period had started a couple of days earlier than i expected. no real cramps, just my typical super-hunger empty feeling. the no cramps is way not typical for me. anyway...

i realized earlyish that i was bleeding somewhat heavier than usual. i use a menstrual cup, not pads or tampons, so i can actually see how much i'm bleeding, and i was definitely bleeding more than average, but i didn't think much about it. typical bleeding from a period is about 35-80 ml (for those interested in numbers) and the cup i use hold about 30 ml. i usually empty the cup every 12 hours like they suggest and for the first day, i expect a half full cup, then it peters out to nothing within a couple of days.

so, a couple of hours into my day i empty a half full cup. (see, i'm an optomist!). later i empty it about half full again. so far i'm not too worried, but i did think it was a bit heavy.

at 3pm i call the cancer clinic to ask about results of my blood draw. the nurse who calls me back says "i don't have any results of blood work for you today". i say, "i had a blood draw this morning. i just wanted to know the results". they always seem surprised that i want to know. makes me wonder what kind of patients they usually deal with to be honest, but that's another story. so she pulls up results, and says "what do you want to know?" i say "oh i was just curious". "you're platelets are low", "oh, ok, what are my white and red counts?" normal range. i think she told me what my platelet counts was, but i'm not positive. anyway.... i say thanks, she says she'll print out the results and show dr robinson on tuesday. he's out of town until then. i'm a bit confused honestly, why they bothered with a routine blood draw that no one was going to look at the results of for a week, but whatever....

so, i'm a bit worried at this point, enough to call my GP and ask if she can call me back. unfortunately a nurse (or someone) calls me back about 5:15 after my GP has already gone home. darn... no info there.

so, i'm up and down for the evening, making butterhorns (YUMMMM) and going to knit night and out for french toast after, and i get home and as i stand up from the car, i can feel a "leak" from the menstrual cup. this is odd, because in 7 years of use i've only ever leaked twice. both times i had an extremely late period (like by several weeks or more) and kind of clotty bleeding that made me think perhaps i had had a very early miscarriage--both were overnight. anyway... so i go inside and go to empty the cup, and it is full. completely full. and the blood is really thin. no viscosity to it whatsoever. it is kind of the texture of water, but really red colored. and it has no typical menstrual blood smell.

this worried me a bit, but not too much. i comment on it to my hub and leave it at that. then an hour later, i got check and the cup is 1/3 full already. an hour later it is again. this is starting to scare me. BUT, it's the wednesday before thanksgiving, and by now it's 11pm and other than going to the ER, there is nothing to do, and right then i was NOT willing. so, i dump right before bed, put on a pad because i'm sure i'll have leakage and go to bed. i woke up at 4:30 with diarrhea. UGH. and leakage. completely full cup. i have to practically take a shower to clean up the blood on my hands (ok this is an exageration but still).

so at 6am i call my GP who is a most lovely lady, who on diagnosis gave me her home phone and said to call whenever if i needed something. she says that it will probably subside, that it is not likely related to the platelet count (which if it was dangerously low they should have given me platelets--i didn't point out that they hadn't looked at the results until i called and that my onc hadn't seen them yet). she says that as long as i can deal with it, if it's not running over every 2 hours, i should be ok. but if it is then off to the ER i should go.

this is not how meant to spend thanksgiving morning. not at all. i'll keep you updated as i find things out.