Blood-work Memes

Nothing quite like the realization that your doctor has been treating you for low hemoglobin while completely ignoring your ferritin levels. Plot twist: hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen, while ferritin is the protein that stores iron in your body. You can have "normal" hemoglobin and still be running on fumes if your ferritin is in the basement. It's like checking if your car has gas but never looking at the oil. Your body's been cannibalizing its iron stores to keep that hemoglobin looking respectable on paper, and nobody bothered to check the reserves. Cool cool cool. Totally normal diagnostic oversight.