Blood Donation

[bbest]

Today is my first autologous blood donation. I detest donating blood as I am very squeamish and creeped out by the whole blood thing. I tend to be on the anemic side, so I've been taking two iron tablets per day and doing my very best to eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet and drinking plenty of water. The last time I went through this I was extrememly weak and exhausted for the two days following the donation (that's why I schedule them for Friday's - so I don't have to worry about missing work due to exhaustion - just in case). Wish me luck!

[rainbow2010]

Good luck! When I had my surgery, you couldn't donate to yourself. My daughter donated to herself before her surgery during exam time! She drank a lot of water for a couple of days ahead of time. They told her when she was old enough to come back and be a donor because they had no problem getting blood from her. She finished in 5 minutes! Now that she is old enough, she donates every 6 months.

[Susie*Bee]

Yes, good luck!

Brandi-- wishing you lots of luck with donating today-- and I'm praying for you too. How many units are you supposed to do for your surgery? If it's very many, you might want to read through some of the posts from these links, where people have given advice and/or talked about their challenges... then again, maybe you will do just great without any other advice.

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...lood+donations

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...lood+donations

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...lood+donations

Let us know how it goes! Hugs, Susie

PS- I know TXMarineMom did a thread on this but I don't think my search showed it-- you might want to look some more.

[bbest]

My surgeon has requested I donate 2 units - same as last time. Last time I was tranfused with the 2 units I donated plus 2-3 units of donor blood. I'm hoping it will be different this time. Thanks for the links and for the prayers and well-wishes.

[bbest]

Just wanted to let you know how it went...

I donated a unit of blood on Friday. My hemoglobin level was a 12 (you need a minimum of 11 to donate). It was a little low, but at least I was able to safely donate. I was extrememly sluggish all weekend long - taking a 3 hour long nap each day. Today I feel like I am coming down with a cold . I am still taking a multivitamin and 2 iron tablets per day and I think I am going to add some vitamin C to the mix. Surgery is 16 days away and I need to make sure I'm good and healthy.

[loves to skate]

Hi Brandi,

May I offer a word of advice? Every time you donate blood, your hemoglobin will drop by one gram, in other words from 12 to 11, even more if you are a small person. The chances of your hemoglobin going back up to 12 in one week, even with iron is unlikely. It could, but is unlikely, in women especially. I would advise you not to donate a second pint, especially if you feel a cold coming on. You will be rejected for any cold symptoms. Going into surgery, you want your hemoglobin to be as high as possibly, otherwise you will get back all of your blood and more besides during and after surgery. My experience comes from 30 years working in a hospital blood bank and drawing autologous blood donors. Regular blood donors must have a hemoglobin of 13 or better to donate, so if you hemoglobin is lower than 13 to start with, the pint of your own blood is not going to be equivalent to a pint of regular donor blood.

I hope your cold symptoms disappear quickly and that you will be strong and healthy for you surgery. Take good care.

Sally

[LindaRacine]

Hi Brandi...

I second Sally's suggestion.

At UCSF, the last time I was in, they were actually subtly recommending that patients who are having scoliosis surgeries not donate blood. The blood supply is about as safe as it gets, and if it's difficult to donate blood, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to take the risk.

Regards,
Linda

[bbest]

Sally and Linda,

Wow. I didn't realize my hemoglobin level would drop so significantly. I had the same issues two 1/2 years ago and was transfused with the 2 units I donated plus more donor blood. I really don't want that to happen again. I just really wanted to be able to donate my own blood for surgery and didn't really consider that it might be unwise to do so. I really appreciate what you both said and will take your advice into consideration.

[bbest]

An Update

Just wanted to let you know that I did not donate the second unit. I decided if I was able to donate I would despite the risks because I really wanted to be able to give my own blood (very stupid, I know). My hemogloblin level was a 10.6! I was shocked that it dropped from a 12 to a 10.6 in a week despite taking 2 iron tablets per day. Needless to say, I wasn't able to donate and now understand that it was for the best. I have been exhausted and completely run down for nearly two weeks. I was wondering what do surgeons do if your hemoglobin is still low on the day of surgery? I had my pre-op physical last Friday and have pre-admission testing on Monday.

[loves to skate]

Hi Brandi,

I'm sorry your hemoglobin dropped so much but it really doesn't surprise me. If your surgeon thinks it is too low to start your surgery, he will transfuse you with your own pint of blood first. I imagine each Doctor has his own threshold to transfuse or not before getting started. Try not to worry. You will be fine.
Sally