I feel like we keep hanging out head against a brick wall with my dad, and at this point I want something to go into the doctors with and say "investigate for X", because he's being pushed from pillar to post.
In the summer he was diagnosed as anemic with a B12 deficiency. He got given 6 x B12 injections and prescribed iron tablets. The iron tablets had horrific side effects and he was told to stop taking them and to just take a multivitamin with iron in it.
About a month ago he got an infection and ended up in hospital. He was given antibiotics and discharged. He was told then that his bloods were fine.
A week after that he gets a call from the doctors to say his platelets are low, he needs to have urgent blood tests and he may need to be readmitted. He has the second blood test and at the end of that appointment the nurse told him to, and I quote "consider getting his affairs in order". They suspected leukaemia.
The second blood test comes back fine for platelets, but his red blood cells were low. He's prescribed the same iron tablets as before and told to get on with it.
He has the same effects with the iron tablets this time and stops taking them. He had a blood test yesterday. The person he spoke to on Monday again said his platelets were low (but when his results are displayed on the NHS app, they're at the top end of normal), and they were considering a bone marrow test?
Yesterday at the doctors they said none of that would be required and they're doing tests for his red blood cells again.
He's now on different iron tablets - but wtf??? One minute they're saying it's his platelets, he has suspected leukaemia and they think he could be on deaths door. The next it's just anaemia?
Realistically I don't think there's a ton they can do - other than an iron transfusion maybe? But it's really starting to frustrate us that they won't nail something down and just run more bloods. What on earth is causing this? Is it just anaemia? If it is, we'll look into self medicating it.