Should she get a transfusion tomorrow?

[junglegirlsue]

My Mom has been on Aranesp since March. She has been hovering around a 8 for her blood count. Today she found out she dropped to 7.7. The dr says she has to get transfused below eight. This will be her second transfusion. She is thinking about now doing it and seeing if her numbers improve with out help. Her dr is out of twon and his office staff each have a different opinion. So we don't know weather to wait. She is suppose to make an appointment for us to meet with the dr next week.

[Ruth Cuadra]

Hi, Junglegirlsue.

Hemoglobin below 8 makes most people feel very poorly and taxes the system because the heart has to work harder to supply enough oxygen to all the tissues and organs. Even if your Mom's count rebounded slightly by the first of the week, she would still be very low. When you say "his office staff each have a different opinion", do you mean other doctors? or nurses? or secretaries? My vote would be with the doctor's recommendation to have a transfusion. The blood center will test her blood right before the transfusion so if she has improved, she needn't go through with it.

Hope this helps.

Ruth

[MaryAlisha]

Anything below 7 is when the transfuse my sister.

[Chirley]

Hi,

I think that the doctors take the persons age, general health, rate of decline of Hb into consideration when they decide to transfuse.

I started out being transfused below 70, then it increased to below 80. Now the doctor transfuses at 85. He said that it's because he doesn't want my heart to have to work hard.

Every one is different, some people cope better than others, physically, I mean. I used to be able to manage a low Hb better than I do now. I noticed that I start feeling bad (SOBOE) at about 80 and below. But then I'm 52 have a history of heart failure and still work a physically active job.

Chirley