HHC-The Silent Killer

Well it has certainly been a while since I have last written anything, apart from the
random little fun facts in my blog. Not really delving into anything too deeply. In
part, I suppose it is because life has kept me busy and thus insufficient time to really
get into blogging in any great detail.

One area in particular zapping pretty much all of my energies almost entirely.
For a few years and with an even greater emphasis over the past several months I
have been very concerned about the overall health of my husband. Recently
culminating with his worrisome description of a feeling of impending doom, a general unwellness beginning in his toes and surging upwards, full body aches, total
exhaustion and yet at the same time intense unease and the strongest compulsion to
want to crawl out of one's own skin.

"It is as if," he recalls for me, "someone has injected diesel fuel or some other poison
in your toes and it is spreading rapidly throughout your body."
Probably the best way to articulate the feelings that are then linked to a terrifying and
foreboding thought process. The time in between, the waiting and wondering until the fateful day and an all telling appointment with a Hematologist arrives.
A day when all of his fears will either be realized, given the past medical history of his
brother and many aunts, uncles and cousins and their horrific lost battles with cancer ended tragically very early in life. Or will some other explanation be offered?

It is a calm and quiet morning in the hospital's Oncology/Hematology department. It
is easy to determine what most patients are here for. Rarely locking eyes with anyone, together we take our seats and wait for the lab technician to gather he and I to take three seemingly innocuous tubes of blood and then return us to the waiting room, once more. Three little tubes, unknown to us at that moment, that have the potential to change our lives forever.

Returning to our seats, the time passing slowly but with each minute I am more and
more certain that at the very least a testing of his blood will produce a "verbal" result
and thereby some degree of a certain diagnosis before the day is through.
Sitting next to him, offering nothing but support, a little voice hisses at me. "What
if..." I sigh, "what if its not as little as you have thought? What if, it really is cancer?" I
gulp hard and force my brain to think of something, anything else. I have been down
this road once before...caring for my previous husband right up until the end and
refusing to believe that life could once again be so cruel. No there is no way I could
be a widow a second time in only as little as a five year span. Certainly not twice at
not yet forty-three. Our daughter of only age 11, to consider as well.
We are at last brought into to meet the specialist and after exchanging certain
pleasantries she asks my husband to comment on his overall health, the past several
months and soon flat out states, that he does in fact have HHC, Hereditary
Hemachromotosis. Something he was in fact born with and that because most of the
medical field has erroneously been lead to believe is rare (wrongfully perceived) and thus seldom diagnosed in time because most are not educated to know the warning signs/symptoms or origins of it. While it is true that it is generally thought to be non life threatening, that is only true if the illness is detected and treated early enough on. If left untreated it can contribute to many serious and potentially fatal ailments that include, Type 2 Diabetes, Cirrhosis, Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure, Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. It can cause several mood disorders such as anxiety and anger disorders and may be misdiagnosed as Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorders. The medications used to effectively treat those disorders not only permanently altering the recipient's brain chemistry but proving to yield catastrophic results , including suicide, if medications are taken unnecessarily.
This disease is essentially an iron overload. It is simply yet perhaps seemingly a touch medieval, best treated through Phlebotomy or in layman's terms, blood letting.
*to be continued in further blogging installments.

25 (Fun) Facts That You Likely Didn't Already Know About Me

1. I used to be terrifed of large breed dogs that is until I myself owned a King Sheppard/
Rotti cross and then a American Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
2. I consider myself to be spiritual as opposed to religious.
3. I am a firm believer in that life is far too short to be taken too seriously.
4. I am definitely right of centre...How right? Do Ann Coulter, David Menzies and Ezra
Levant provide you with any clues?
5. Although I do not oppose the "Pro Choice" right; apart from instances meaning life and
death, it's not the right thing for me personally.
6. I believe that those who have children knowing full well they haven't the means to
provide for them are to some degree comitting child abuse.
7. Beauty pagents have no place in a world where women should be seen as equals.
8. I am the eldest of 8 children.
9. I have 1 full brother, 5 half sisters and 1 half brother.
10. I am a Capricorn.
11. I am proud to state that I share my birthday with Sir Anthony Hopkins.
12. Motherhood, by far, is my greatest life achievement, thus far.
13. I am happily married to my soul mate and best friend.
14. I drink rarely.
15. My drink of choice aside from water would be Bailey's Irish Cream or white wine.
16. I am defintely a multiple (tasks, talented, etc, ;) kind of gal. :)
17. I have what I describe best as "varied" taste in music. Pretty much everything BUT rap
or hip/hop.
18. I believe that Canadians could learn from the U.s. "what it means to be patriotic."
19. The place I most want to see in my life time is "the French Quarter" New Orleans.
20. Other must vist places include: England, duh I wonder why....Australia and Ireland.
21. The only reason why I probably won't ever visit Vegas, is simply because I just don't
think I can conquer the power of one arm bandits, lol.
22. At the moment I don't think there is anyone sexier than my hubby dressed in leather!
23. A close second in terms of sexiness however would be Johnny Depp.
24. My vision of heaven, although isnt clear does include never again having to do dishes or
laundry and has an endless supply of unfattening, good tasting chocolate.
25. And the final 25th fun fact about me, that I thought you might like to know about me is
contrary to popular opinion I do not have an anger problem; I am quite comfortable with
exploded whenever the F-@#-in-H&!-L I please. LOL