Iron Poor Mother Goose

“Holy Hemoglobin, Batman! Mother Goose has iron deficiency anemia!”

The Dynamic Duo share the sad news about Mother Goose.

Dear reader, do you recall just a few short posts ago when Mother Goose confessed her newly acquired addiction to ice-chewing? And do you recall how she proudly scoffed at the suggestion that she may have iron poor blood? Oh how I pooh poohed that silly notion!

Well, lo and behold, there I was at the blood donation center last week. And lo and behold, the prescreening procedure they performed on Mother Goose revealed that YES indeed I do have low iron in my life blood… Yes, Mother Goose must now eat a large piece of humble pie.

But in all seriousness, this can be a serious condition! Let’s just take a quick look at iron deficiency anemia with Mother Goose. You may discover that you, too, suffer from a hidden case of IDA.

The Symptoms

The first sign of IDA is a general fatigue. Of course, Mother Goose with her terribly hectic schedule has assumed for a long time that being tired is just part of her life. Collapsing on the floor at 8:30 p.m. seems par for my course. Accompanying Fatigue is Occasional Dizziness as well as Weakness. They are all good friends and apparently hang out together. Perhaps you have experienced these symptoms — most mothers do.

But now we get into the really interesting and weird symptoms! Ice-chewing or pica is very common amongst the iron poor blood crowd! I have already received confirmation of that symptom from two other personal sources, and all the medical websites mention it as well. Do you find that you are attracted to ice chewing? It is rather inexplicable and somewhat alarming to consider a connection between ice chewing and an iron deficiency.

My research shows another symptom of IDA is having a sore tongue. The ice chewing may be a comfort to the tender lining of the mouth which is thinned and often dry by the lack of iron rich hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an oxygen-carrying protein in our red blood cells — a very necessary component to a happy and healthy lifestyle. When iron is depleted, less oxygen is transported to the millions of cells in our bodies. Did you realize that your brain cells need oxygen or you will become irritable? I wonder if any of my dear readers have picked up on the irritability of Mother Goose?

Another strange symptom to watch for is hair loss! Yes, Mother Goose has been molting lately — dropping hair as well as feathers these past few weeks. I would say I’ve lost an average of 3,000 hairs each and every day, and then I find them everywhere, including in my teacup, my keyboard, on the floor and on my children’s clothes.

(Please be warned that the following description may be somewhat graphic for some fair readers, but Mother Goose believes it is a necessary part of her story.)

Perhaps the most bizarre symptom of IDA is this: beeturia. Mother Goose only discovered she had this symptom over the weekend. I hungrily and happily consumed four average-sized beets on Friday evening. I parboiled them in water, sliced them and slathered them in butter, salt and pepper. Oh they were so yummy…

The following morning, I happened to glance into the toilet bowl and was alarmed at the color of the urine Mother Goose had left behind! I will only say it was the color of beets… Beeturia is the condition where the body cannot make any sense of the color of beets and quickly disposes of it. It occurs in up to 80% of all IDA sufferers. For once, Mother Goose is telling the truth, and this is a real condition.

Please come back tomorrow when Mother Goose will discuss her battle plan for beating this Iron Deficiency Anemia. I vow to not eat any more beets until this disorder has been resolved…I’m sure I will be watching Batman and Robin “beet up” the bad guys. Mother Goose will probably be munching her crushed ice as aggressively as possible. I will be brushing my thinning hair and feathers.

Be a blessing to somebody today! Love from Mother Goose.

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