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A few months ago my dad was given this diagnosis. Polycythemia means too many red blood cells; basically your body produces too much blood. The doctors are doing a number of tests to figure out if there is some disease that has caused this or if this is just something that suddenly happened to him for no reason.
So far they have done ultra sounds and tested his blood and still haven't found anything wrong with him, other than having too much blood. So all they are doing is taking out 13 tubes of blood every week to every two weeks and continue to do this indefinately.
My father has been a heavy drinker since he was a teenager, he is now in his mid 50's and continues to drink heavily and smoke cigars. Upon reading up on this blood disorder I found that sometimes it can happen with liver disease or cancer. But with all the tests they have done, they can't find anything wrong with him. But I think he may be lying to all of us so that he can continue abusing his body til the day he dies. It just seems like something he would do. The last time I saw him he looked like he lost about 20 lbs. He says he is just getting old and not eating as much as he used, etc...but I know my father, I know he power drinks and eats nothing but red meat and potatos, eggs and bacon, etc. I don't know what to believe.
So anyway, this Polycythemia thing sounds very odd to me. How can a body produce too much blood??? I know what too little blood is like, but too much? I've never heard of it til my mom told me this is what's wrong with him. So I guess this is another one of those bizarre disorders. Removing 13 tubes of blood per week indefinately sounds odd as well. But I dunno. And how can someone just develop this disorder and not have it from the day they are born?
So far they have done ultra sounds and tested his blood and still haven't found anything wrong with him, other than having too much blood. So all they are doing is taking out 13 tubes of blood every week to every two weeks and continue to do this indefinately.
My father has been a heavy drinker since he was a teenager, he is now in his mid 50's and continues to drink heavily and smoke cigars. Upon reading up on this blood disorder I found that sometimes it can happen with liver disease or cancer. But with all the tests they have done, they can't find anything wrong with him. But I think he may be lying to all of us so that he can continue abusing his body til the day he dies. It just seems like something he would do. The last time I saw him he looked like he lost about 20 lbs. He says he is just getting old and not eating as much as he used, etc...but I know my father, I know he power drinks and eats nothing but red meat and potatos, eggs and bacon, etc. I don't know what to believe.
So anyway, this Polycythemia thing sounds very odd to me. How can a body produce too much blood??? I know what too little blood is like, but too much? I've never heard of it til my mom told me this is what's wrong with him. So I guess this is another one of those bizarre disorders. Removing 13 tubes of blood per week indefinately sounds odd as well. But I dunno. And how can someone just develop this disorder and not have it from the day they are born?
2 reasons, I was a Nurse 
in another life, secondly my mother had it, I say had it because she passed away 6yrs ago 
