Amor's iron deficiency 'deadly'
2007-09-26 09:39
Potchefstroom - Amor Vittone will apparently need to get intravenous iron supplements at a hospital every month for the rest of her life.
Speaking at the Aardklop Arts Festival on Monday evening, Vittone said her iron deficiency was so severe that iron supplement tablets didn't help her at all.
"I have absolutely no iron. My body doesn't absorb it."
She has already been on a drip for three to four hours to supplement her iron, and is going for treatment this coming weekend.
Vittone was admitted to hospital a few weeks ago with what was diagnosed at the time as a bleeding gastric ulcer.
'Stress-related'
"I do have an ulcer, but the real problem is the combination of low blood pressure and an acute iron deficiency. I don't understand it, because I eat so much red meat."
The combination is deadly, according to Vittone. "If you don't get the right treatment you can just keel over. It's fatal."
Vittone, who also has a spastic colon, says her condition is stress-related.
"Sometimes we don't listen to our bodies. I'm a perfectionist, and often that's not a good thing. I can't say no. I try to get to everything. And in the end you just collapse."
Doctors are still conducting tests to determine what exactly is amiss.