Medical Update: Blood

January 3, 2023

MEDICAL UPDATE

Blood-Test Results (via video call with my doctor on my cell phone)

Prostate: good

Cholesterol: good

Triglycerides: slightly high

Thyroid: good

A1C: 8.4 (good, but could be better)

Hemoglobin Level: 12.5 (slightly low; anemia; required hospitalization/iron infusions/blood transfusion in 2021)

White-Blood-Cell Count: good (count near zero due to six weeks of daily intravenous antibiotic infusions due to osteomyelitis in left foot in early 2021)

Kidneys: good (kidney failure plus six weeks of daily dialysis/four straight hours/seven days per week due to the six weeks of daily intravenous antibiotic infusions in early 2021)

Liver: good

I already take many prescriptions. My doctor added Metformin to supplement my insulin injections to control my blood-glucose levels until I restart seeing an endocrinologist next month.

I continue to recover from:

*quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery, including removal of a section of a main vein in my left leg for the open-heart surgery, in March 2022

*surgery to remove loose sternal plates, plus a staph infection within my chest, in May 2022

*surgery to reattach my chest muscle flaps to my body also in May 2022.

One of my surgeons told me that I should be mostly healed about one year after surgery, so I am thinking that it will be March 2023 for my heart and May 2023 for my broken sternum (breastbone). My eight-inch-long incision has been healed for several months.

PHOTO (June 22, 2022): I had a wound vacuum sucking on my chest 24 hours per day for several weeks at the hospital and then at the physical rehabilitation facility. A thin, black strip of foam was placed over my incision and secured with clear medical tape. The hose was attached, and the vacuum was turned on. The dressing was replaced every two or three days with resulting severe pain. The vacuum removed discharge and infection from within my chest, and it also pulled the wound tight to improve healing.