Blood levels before transplant

[draven]

Hi guys

i was wondering if your blood levels are to high (phosphate & potassium) will the transplant unit cancel or postpone the surgery or does it not make a difference. i know my doc gave me meds to boost my redblood cells for anemia and mentioned that i would need to boost that before i have a transplant. but what about other levels?

[monrein]

I wouldn't think so for phos and potass, Draven.  They dialysed me right before my last transplant as I recall and those things can be removed via dialysis.  You want to keep those under control for the good of your heart and bones anyway, transplant or no transplant.

I'm sure others will chime in on this too.  My last transplant was a long time ago.

[chris73]

my potassium and creatinine levels were so high  i would die on  the operating table if i didn't have dialysis as my levels were at a lethal levels,  they had an emergency permacath placed started dialysis 2 days later. i was dialyzed day b4 transplant.. hope this answer your question..Chris

[monrein]

Draven's already on D, Chris, but that's important for pre-dialysis patients having a pre-emptive transplant.

[draven]

Thanks for the responses. the transplant unit said i would be dialyzed right up to the transplant. so i suppose i will be dialyzed on the Monday and have the surgery on the Wednesday. i was just worried that if my levels are too high they might cancel the surgery.

[monrein]

Can you see if you could dialyze later on Tuesday instead of the Monday?  Then you'd only have to be very careful about your food intake for that one  evening.  Preparing for surgery the following day you likely would have to be fasting anyway.

[draven]

i was thinking about that. i will bring that up with my dialysis unit.

[Jill D.]

I dialyzed the morning of my surgery; I figured that was probably standard procedure(?)

[monrein]

Maybe it is, if it isn't, it really should be the standard procedure.

[pelagia]

Without thinking about the implications, my husband ate a subway sandwich with tomato slices for lunch right before he checked in for his transplant.    That was 18 hours before his surgery was supposed to begin.  Later that afternoon they came in to draw blood.  When it was analyzed they came back with the news that his potassium was too high for surgery!!!  They did not have plans to dialyze him that day, as he had been dialyzed the day before.  Instead they had him drink a suspension of tiny resin beads.  I think it was called Kayexalate. It "scrubbed" the potassium from his gastrointestinal tract and brought his blood level down sufficiently for the surgery.

[Jill D.]

I think it was called Kayexalate. It "scrubbed" the potassium from his gastrointestinal tract and brought his blood level down sufficiently for the surgery.

Oh yummy, Kayexalate  I had to drink that nasty stuff every day for almost 1 1/2 years for my potassium prior to getting my transplant. It was not a  small dose either - it was like 1/2 of a standard size bottle of cough medicine per day. My monthly supply was 4 or 5 large bottles. There were days I could barely gag that stuff down - it was thick and gritty and looked liked baby poop (tasted nasty too - although they tried to make it "better" by adding cherry flavoring.) Even the pharmacists felt bad for me when they saw I had to drink that sh_ _!

[draven]

Had a look at my latest blood results and my potassium is high. the range is supposed to be between 2.00 and 5.00 and mine is 7.4

guess i better watch what im eating. any tips for lowering potassium levels.