Adenomyosis and why my iron levels are low…

I'm sure you read the word adenomyosis and said huh? What the hell is that now? She must have spelled endometriosis wrong. Nope I didn't . And now you probably copied and pasted into Google to see if it's a real word. Yup it is and I have it! Yay lucky me!

So this disease I actually already knew I had back in October. Before this Breast Cancer diagnosis entered my life. Adenomyosis is a condition where my endometrial wall grows into my uterine wall. So super fun! So what does that mean???

Well full disclosure this may be some TMI but it will explain the iron infusions....

I'm warning you.... if you can't handle the words Period or menstruation then move along..... and also grow up.

I'm an open book and if anyone else can relate or not feel alone , that's why I'm writing this part of the blog.

This disease is not very well known but not uncommon. It causes extremely painful, heavy and long menstrual cycles. It also causes fertility problems. I was extremely lucky that I was able to have two beautiful children without any issues. And I wasn't diagnosed until last year. Unfortunately there are 2 ways to "cure" this. 1) wait for menopause or 2) hysterectomy.

So back in October my OBGYN gave me the options and by November I made the decision that a hysterectomy would be my best option.

So in November 2022 my plans for 2023 were I was going to have the hysterectomy.

FLASH FORWARD.....to my December Mammogram.... and well you know how that went. Hysterectomy move to the back, Breast Cancer you move to the front of the line.

So what does this have to do with anything Annie??

As you may have noticed, I don't do subtle... Maybe it's the artist in me or just shitty luck but it's me.

So as my luck would have it my lovely monthly cycle started the day I came home after surgery and has not stopped- Yay!! And for those keeping track it's been 20 days...

When I went to my oncologist for bloodwork and he said I was anemic, I was not in the least bit surprised. How could I not be?! Bleeding for what seems like forever plus I'm on blood thinners. What you can't eat is leafy greens (vitamin k) when on blood thinners- yeah you know all the vegetables that give you iron.

So now you know where I'm at and why I will be getting multiple iron infusions before I start chemo.