Among the many things your kidneys do for you is regulate how much blood you make. There is a hormone called erythropoetin that stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells. When your kidneys fail, you become anemic. This is why my daughter felt so cold. Her anemia was severe, but because it took a long time to get so bad, it didn't bother her as much as it might have, and only had symptoms in recent months.
So now, once a week, she gets shots of erythropoetin. We were supposed to start them at the same time as the pills. But our insurance wouldn't cover it right away. Seriously? The kid is on the brink of needing a transfusion and you won't PAY for this stuff? Well, turns out that at about $500/shot, they want to be SURE she needs it, especially, I suppose, since it is often used in "doping" atheletes. We are not allowed to fill it at our normal pharmacy, and it gets shipped from about a thousand miles away, overnight, once a month.
Her dad gives her the shots. He's diabetic, so he knows how. And oddly, she looked at me and said, "Mom, I know you're a doctor and all, but I'd feel weird if you gave me shots." Well.......okay LOL.
Not so many years ago kidney failure patients just got transfusions. Lots and lots of them. It's one of the reasons so many of them contracted HIV in the early 80's, and repetive transfusions adds a LOT to the risk of transplant rejection.
Hooray erythropoetin!
DeeDee
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