trasplant and transfusions
 

Hi everybody,
I was talking with some doctors and there are different opinions. Some doctors told me it is no important the number of transfusions for the success of the trasplant because they are irradiated and disleucocited. Others told, and in the net is the general opinion, that they are. It seems that there is only one trial long time ago....
I have received more than 100 transfusions easily....and I dont know anybody who went to trasplant with so many.....
What is your opinion? How many transfusions did you receive before the trasplant?

Over my entire life, I've definitely had more than 100, and lots of those were in the 1980s when I doubt things were quite as tight as they are now.

Hasn't seemed to affected my transplant!

My husband had over 140 units of PRBC prior to transplant. The only effect it had on him was iron overload. He is doing phlebotomy now and his ferritin levels are dropping nicely. The number of transfusions he had been given was never an issue with the transplant team as far as we know.

All the best to you.

Mary

Also, a BIG thank you to all the people who donate blood. It is a true gift of life to many, many people. It was for my husband. :D

I've heard more than one doctor say that transplant outcomes are statistically better if the patient has had fewer transfusions. On the other hand, I haven't heard that they would instruct a patient not to have a transfusion that he or she needs or to rush into a transplant that he or she might otherwise avoid, just because of that statistic. I wouldn't worry about needing transfusions since you can't do much about it.

We already know other reasons to minimize transfusions: less iron buildup, less buildup of the proteins that can lead to transfusion rejection, fewer needle jabs, fewer infection opportunities, less time spent in the treatment center, less cost, and more blood supplies for everyone else. Perhaps what it tells us is that patients should not have transfusions long before they are near their personal low threshold (before low counts get too risky or lead to too many symptoms). But when you need blood, you need blood.