So my senior year of high school, I was on the varsity volleyball team for Portland. It was towards the beginning of the season (December 2006), and I was struggling with our workouts. We didn't have very hard workouts, and I was in good shape, so I didn't understand why I was getting dizzy. It would get to the point where I had to sit down for a while during practice. My coaches and athletic trainer decided to have a meeting with me, and it took me completely off guard. They thought I had an eating disorder! They asked me if I was anorexic or bulimic. I understand why they could think this, because I was 6 feet tall and only weighed about 130 pounds. But they also knew I ate like a pig. I could eat 3/4 of a pizza all by myself!
They told me I was going to have to start weighing in before every practice/game. And if I didn't make a certain weight, I would not be allowed to participate. I was furious. So my mom and I made an appointment with my pediatrician. I told him what was going on, and he ordered for some tests to be done. I had them done that day, like blood tests and stuff, so it wasn't a big deal. I was able to make it back to practice in time. But practice was soon interrupted by mom. I saw her talking to my coach, and then they both waived me over. My mom told me that I needed to go back to the doctors, because of the blood test results. I was really scared because we had to leave right away. I can't remember who we met with, but I just remember them telling me I was Anemic.
Anemia is when you have a decreased number of red blood cells, or hemoglobin, in the blood. It also can be associated with iron deficiency. To be classified for having anemia at the age I was (18), I had to have under 12 g/dL, which is about 7.4 mmol/L. So if I have a hemoglobin level higher than 12, I am fine. But they told me my level was only around 5.5. Incase you didn't guess, that is EXTREMELY low. I guess if it would have dropped down to about 4, I would have needed a blood transfusion. They told me if I wouldn't have been an athlete, I would have struggled getting out of bed. They told me some of the other symptoms associated with Anemia. Some of the most prevalent was extremely pale skin (because you have a decreased amount of red blood cells, which add to the color of your skin), feeling fatigued all the time, as well as other stuff. It all started to make sense. I realized that I was sleeping a lot! They told me I was getting dizzy a lot, and tired more, because I wasn't getting enough oxygen throughout my body. Hemoglobin is cell that carries oxygen throughout the body, and it is directly related to iron levels. Since I had a fraction of the hemoglobin of a normal girl my age, I was also only getting a fraction of the oxygen. So you can see, that if you drop to low, it can be extremely dangerous.
I had to meet with a dietician, to discuss how I was going to reverse this. I had to take an Iron supplement daily, which was 65mg. I had to eat foods that were high in Iron, like tons of cereal and peanut butter. They wanted me to eat a lot of salad. Even though the answer wasn't the best, at least I had something to show my coaches. Prove them wrong. Show them that it was nothing that I was doing to my body. I also had to see a lot of different doctors, to try to figure out where I was loosing all this blood. Most women that have anemia is because of their menstrual cycle. But I don't get menstrual cycles, so there had to be another reason. We still haven't figured this out. But I did have to see a ear/nose/throat doctor, and they found something else. I had a mass in my throat, and its not supposed to be there (but I will save that for another post).
So even though I was working to increase my iron and hemoglobin level, we had to figure out how this would effect my volleyball. I was able to practice (and not worry about having to weigh in), but I had to say something immediately if I ever felt too exhausted. I wasn't allowed to play back row. You could see my fatigue when I would play in tournaments. It would take every once of energy to hit the ball. At the end of the tournaments, when I would hit, I would practically fall to floor. Ok, I didn't fall or anything, but I would be crouched so low because of my lack of energy. I was pretty much squatting. I still hit really well, so that was good. After a while, my hemoglobin levels got high enough to get me out of the risk zone. But I am always worried about a relapse, because I guess once you are anemic once, you will pretty much always be near that border line (or so i've been told).
I am happy to say that I don't have to take Iron supplements, and I don't have to track how much I am consuming from food anymore. I am not anemic, as of now. And I hope it stays that way.
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