Anemic following Surgery?

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LeakyValve

LeakyValve

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
Messages
76
Location
Leesburg, VA
Hi -

Anyone else suffer from mild anemia following their surgery? I was not given any blood during my procedure.

Mike
 
LeakyValve said:
Hi -

Anyone else suffer from mild anemia following their surgery? I was not given any blood during my procedure.

Mike
Click to expand...

You bet.... I was told that I was mildly anemic when they were releasing me from the hospital and was given ti choice to go home or stay and get blood ....I should have stayed ...two weeks later back in the hospital over night for three units of blood ... all well since then.... Don't know how common it is but it happened to me.
 
Thanks, Cooker. I'm glad it worked out...though getting blood must not be a fun thing! The anemia might explain the faster heart rate and feeling somewhat dizzy after bending down, etc. I appreciate your reply! Have a great week.
 
Not sure if my son was Anemic after his surgery but it took him a long time to get his colour and warmth back and he had to have a small blood transfution.
 
hi.......yea was anemic after my op, had to go back to theartre as i had a bleed,so was borderline for blood transfusion, but there gave me some injections and iron pills which i was on for quite awhile,,looked like a ghost lol,but everthing returned to normal, was told it was a common thing after ohs............hope your feeling better
 
Yep,
Been there, done that!
It will cause you to feel more short of breath and increase your heartrate.Luckily it's something that can be resolved fairly quickly.
 
I figure with the heart/lung bypass machine and the ensuing "pumphead" effect with cogniition, there must be some blood loss. I was on iron pill after release, had to also increase FIBER in diet to compensate for that - you get the picture! :D ROUGHAGE...

Anemia that's hit me twice since due to meds issues resulted in weakness, shortness of breath, PALLOR, lord did I resemble a ghost! and the only time in the whole process where I basically fainted and had to stay on the floor for the longest time.

Keep up your water intake, too. Hypovolemia will cause symptoms just like anemia, as not enough blood is flowing for perfusion of organs.

Soups, juices, fruit - I hadn't been consuming enough of any of those, got dehydrated PLUS the anemia - not good!

TLC and time and rest - should square you away! as my USCG son calls it. :)
 
I was after my last 2 surgeries. I was told that because of all of the blood work they did. They took 3 vials of blood 2x a day. Never had to go back. I ws on Iron and I ate alot of steak the first week home. After the 1st surgery I developed a HUGE phobia blood draws. They incapacitate me for over an hour every time.
 
I was mildly anemic but did not require any blood transfusions. They just checked my blood at the general practitioners and told me to eat iron-rich foods. I don't know if you are on INR type food restrictions... I ate a few steaks, lots of spinach and peanut butter and was back to normal quickly.

My understanding of the anemia is that for some reason, the action of the blood moving through the heart-lung machine leaches out iron. It did not seem to me that the surgeon thought it was something they could fix about the machine, that it just simply was part of the picture and that some people had more of a problem with it.

Please get a doctor's advice. Once I was past that I felt so much better.

Best wishes.

Marguerite
 
I had two units of blood at surgery and still came out anemic. I have been on iron ever since (11 mts) I do blood work next Monday and I do hope that is better.

The iron doesn't to too well with my stomach it repeats itself so I hope I can get off of it.
 
I required blood both my OHS. More the first but at least one unit the second. I don't remember how many they told me I had.

It's very common.
 
Are you on Iron pills?

Many (most?) OHS patients are sent home with an Rx for them.

Do you like Steak and Hamburgers?

EAT UP and ENJOY !

After my first OHS, my surgeon told me to eat anything that appealed to me. Worry about getting back to a Healthy Heart Diet after I recovered.
 
I was/am anemic

I was/am anemic

I went home from AVR surgery on 10 Dec 08 and was specifically told by my cardio that I was anemic due to blood loss during surgery. They intentionally did not give me additional blood because apparently the medical risks of taking additional blood outweigh the risks of being anemic at home. I did not get an Rx for iron, either. My cardio and surgeon just said expect to deal with the symptoms of anemia (mostly just fatigue, slight dizziness, and pallor) for the first few weeks. They said it naturally clears up with a healthy diet and drinking plenty of fluids. I've noticed my fatigue level going doing lately (at the end of my 4th week post-op) so something must be going right.

Davd
 
I was given a unit of blood in recovery and was still mildly anemic. I was put on iron pills for a while after surgery and was still borderline. Over time it went away. I think it's partly due to blood loss during surgery and partly due to an inadequate diet when you're just not all that hungry.

Earline, there are iron pills that aren't so hard on your stomach. If you're going to be on them a while, talk to the pharmacist about recommending something different and then have your doctor write a script for it.
 
first visit to GP after surgery, he passed me in the hall, said 'you are anemic'. Then did the tests and sure nuff. He gave me shots and pills. Not unusual, I suppose.
 
Thanks to everyone who posted! I thought I was looking paler (word?) than usual. The lightheadedness upon standing from a crouch should have also been a clue. My GP recommended the iron supplement. The surgeon's office mentioned that I was borderline anemic in a matter-of-fact manner, perhaps thinking that it would resolve in time and that I wasn't that bad off from a blood perspective.

I really appreciate everyone's input!

Mike
 
Bina said:
After surgery I was white like a ghost for several weeks even though I ate well. I'm still trying to make sure that I eat beef twice a week.
Click to expand...

As I recovering steak-a-holic, you can imagine, Bina, that when my PCP told me that I needed to eat more beef that I was devastated. Bring on the porterhouse, how 'bout that rib-eye over there?!
:rolleyes:
 
Received two units of blood a few days after surgery, can't say I felt any different but it brought the blood levels up to where they wanted them.

Nick
 
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