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OCTOBER 6, 2023
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PLEASE DON’T TELL ME TO
GET WELL SOON There is often no “getting well” when you are chronically ill. I know you mean well when you say this and your intentions aren’t to make me feel bad… but it makes me feel sad. I wish I could get well, and I keep trying to figure out something that will magically cure me of this horrible monster that has overtaken my body, but nothing seems to work. I’ve seen every doctor, every specialist, taken every test, tried multiple medications and supplements, changed my diet… you name it! It’s very frustrating. One of my doctors recently looked me right in the eyes and said: “You need to stop trying to fix this. Instead, focus on managing it with the least toxic route.” Hearing this made my brain scream, “No! I will find a cure!” But after a while it really sunk in and actually gave me a little relief. I was focusing so much of my energy on trying to fix my illness and get back to where I was before all of this happened, when I was “well.” What I should have been doing was focusing my energy on self-care and relaxation. I was causing so much unneeded stress for myself. Since I’ve been able to take my focus off finding a cure and “getting well,” I have had so much more peace of mind. But when someone says to me, “Get well soon,” it just brings my mind back to the place it was in and stresses me out. There are other things you could say that aren’t as triggering and are more validating to someone who is chronically ill: • I know how hard this must be
you’re feeling your worst
• I’m here for you
• I know this sucks, but you totally got this
• Let me know what I can do • I can see you’re struggling, and I want to help • You must be strong to have battled this so long • You can count on me when
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BLOOD-BORNE BODY PARTS: THE OCCASIONAL SERIES
There is no denying that blood is amazing stuff, the very stuff of life, in fact. It is so amazing that all 16 pages of this issue and a thousand or two added pages would be insufficient to document all of its remarkable characteristics. That being so, this brief article will attempt to present just one component of blood, and merely a snapshot at that. Speaking of snapshots, the image below depicts our subject: hemoglobin. The image is enlarged several times. How many times? Well, the hemoglobin molecule is that tangle in the middle of the red circle. The red circle is a single red blood cell. For perspective — and we’ll admit up front that this is going to be a worthless point of reference — there are as many as 6 million of these red blood cells in each microliter of blood (a microliter being 0.00003 of an ounce). If it helps, a different red blood cell measurement is 7 microns, and a micron is 1/1,000th of a microliter. In other words, 0.0000039 inches. As noted, these numbers are more or less beyond comprehension. If that illustrates how tiny red blood cells are, how small must a molecule of hemoglobin be? A lot smaller. Incompre-
• I believe in you • Do you want to talk about it? • I’m sorry you’re hurting + — Ally Teixeira
hensibly smaller. The depiction below shows a single hemoglobin molecule. As you may know, hemoglobin is the blood-borne element that actually ferries oxygen out to the body and then takes out the trash (carbon dioxide). That is no small task because we take about 25,000 breaths every day in an attempt to feed our roughly 37.2 trillion cells, each and every one of them clamoring for a nearly constant supply of oxygen. As illustrated, however, each hemoglobin molecule has but four receptors. A single molecule of oxygen can initially bind to each of the four receptors, although there is a trick that allows a few more oxygen molecules to attach themselves. Even so, that sounds like a recipe for oxygen deprivation, doesn’t it? How could only a handful of oxygen molecules per molecule of hemoglobin ever be enough to supply those 37 trillion cells? We forgot to mention that the average single red blood cell, beyond microscopic though it may be, contains Please see BLOOD page 4
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