blood donation today

[laurieg6]

Hi Everyone,

My son donated his one required unit of blood today. He is only 90 lbs. so they took a little less than the normal, adult amount. He seemed fine & was eating a cookie & drinking juice when he almost fainted - he was falling out of his chair but the techs & I caught him. All in all, we were at the blood donation center for almost 4 hours while he was monitored. His blood pressure & pulse slowly returned to normal but they had to give him IV saline after a couple of hours because he still was not feeling well.

Has anyone else had something like this happen? I'm worried because his surgery is in 3 weeks, 2 days & I don't want him to be weakened by this. He is normally strong & healthy with no current health problems besides the scoliosis. I bought some liquid iron that he's been taking for a couple of days & I'll feed him other iron-rich foods. Do any of you who have been through this (yourself or your child) have any advice for me?

Thanks!

[Carmell]

Hi Laurie,

If this is his ONLY donation, he should be fine. He'll be strong in 3 weeks for sure. If they want him to do more, I would put my foot down and say no. I'm very proud of him for doing this.

About iron, make sure to watch him for constipation. Iron supplements are constipating. He'll want to be as "cleaned" out as possible before surgery because the anesthesia and mostly the narcotics are terribly constipating. You have to stay on top of that by giving him AT LEAST stool softners as soon as he's able to drink or take anything orally after surgery. This is very important, I promise.

Take care.

[laurieg6]

Thanks Carmell,

This was Alexander's only blood donation. He seemed much better today & went to school. The iron I bought is supposed to be non-constipating - it's called Floradix & it's a syrup made from iron-rich fruits & vegetables.

Our next big hurdle will be his pre-op appt. on July 5th. We will meet with the Dr./surgeon & nurse, the nurse-practitioner anesthesiologist (I thought it would be the Dr. him/herself but need to call about this), & he will have an ultrasound of his kidneys to make sure they are normal before the surgery.

I really appreciate all advice.

[Carmell]

Hi Laurie,

<<We will meet with the Dr./surgeon & nurse, the nurse-practitioner anesthesiologist (I thought it would be the Dr. him/herself but need to call about this)>>

In many hospitals, they use NP anesthesiologists instead of full-fledged anesthesiologists - its cheaper! UGH. This is a HUGE surgery for Alexander. I would call NOW and request a PEDIATRIC anesthesiologist to be present at the pre-op appt AND during the entire surgery. My 16yr old had surgery in April and used a NP anesthesiologist. We had a good experience, but he was only under anesthesia for about 1.5 hours. Not a huge procedure like scoliosis surgery. You need to have 100% confidence he will be taken care of. You have some questions they need to answer.

Glad to hear he's going to have a renal ultrasound. Have they done a full spine MRI? I think I remember reading that they have. Good luck on July 5, and then again for surgery time. You are doing great.

[Aussiemum]

Hi Laurie,

Looked this up on the net for you...


According to a report presented at the American Heart Association's 56th Annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference, drinking about 16 ounces of water may help prevent healthy people from fainting due to standing for long periods of time or after donating blood. The study was conducted because each year around 150,000 people faint or experience near fainting after blood donations and many of those people never give blood again. Fainting can also occur in healthy people after prolonged standing, especially in a warm environment.

Hope everything goes well and the stress levels are not too high!!

I agree with Carmell about the Anethestist - their just as important as the surgeon!

Keep us posted... will keep Alex on my prayer list!

Del
xx

[laurieg6]

Thanks for the info Carmell & Del,

I did call our surgeon today. When I expresses my concern about the NP anesthesiologist, the surgeon said that the NP was only doing the initial assessment. He said that an MD would be there throughout the surgery & for the follow-up & would be meeting us at the hospital prior to the surgery. Another mother I met whose 14 yr old daughter is having a similar surgery at the same hospital with a different surgeon said her pre-op was also with a NP anesthesiologist; they had similar concerns that were responded to like mine. I do feel llike the anesthesiologist is just as important as the surgeon so I picked the Children's Hosp. where I could be sure there would be pediatric specialists of all kinds. I'm trying to trust these people as much as possible...

Del, I think the info you found really is applicable to why Alexander almost fainted after the blood donation. He doesn't tend to drink a lot & I've always had to push liquids on him. I think he'd barely had any water, juice or anything the day of the surgery until I started urging him to drink a bottle of water.

Thanks again for your advice & prayers. We can use all the support we can get these last 3 weeks before the surgery.