low hemo

[babycake]

 just looked at my lab report
on my hemo
it explains why i have been tired
7.8
the lowest i had was at 5
and that was several years ago
i had appt to get a cross match done
and to get the plasma done on sat
a friend of mine was over on wed
and said i dont think your going
to make it on sat
for i was so out of it
i ended up in the hospitol
late wed nite
thats when i found out my hemo
was that low
so its possible
i might end up
either back in the hospitol
or get the iv drip
with no problem
and yes i did call my doc
as well the davita center

[Simon Dog]

It is possible to recover.   I know I fought off residents trying to order transfusions for me when my HGB in the hospital post-surgery (not renal transplant) was 6.2.

Once I got home, I was exiled to in-center hemo until it got to 8.5 and my doc was having me give myself 50,000 units of epo per week and checking my HGB with each treatment.    I recovered, and it was 10.3 last lab draw.

Why are you getting plasma instead of packed red blood cells?  Have you discussed the relative benefits of transfusion vs the risk of alloimmunization with your neph?

[babycake]

plasma is blood
which is the transfusion

like i said i called
davita they cant do anything
untill monday
 but my family is on alert just in case
i feel i need to go in

i called my doc
but of course no one called me back
it wasent much of a emergency
for them to do so

[Simon Dog]

plasma is blood
which is the transfusion

Plasma is the liquid (pale yellow) that holds the blood cells, but does not contain (other than a trace amount) red blood cells, so I am curious as to why plasma is being given for anemia.  Plasma is a separate product than blood, but is obtained by processing donated blood.  If you look at a SST (serum separator tube, tiger top color) after the clinic has spun it prior to sending it to the lab you will see the plasma at the top and the red blood cells at the  bottom.

Whole blood or packed red blood cells would seem to be what would be administered for low HGB.

Transfusions can sensitize you and make finding a matching kidney more difficult.  I would never have a transfusion without a nephrologist's review.  It would take a LOT of convincing to get me to sign off on a transfusion for an HGB above 7.

[babycake]

my neph
im sure looks and reviews
all my labs for when he comes in
he usually ask me how im feeling


it could mean that i could have some
form of infection
which i did last time
but then as i stated
i had about 5 transfusions done

[Simon Dog]

i had about 5 transfusions done

If you are on a transplant list, you might want to ask the team what your current PRA is (I believe it is included in the monthly tissue typing test)

[babycake]

im not even considered
to be on the transplant list
for i have to many health issue

[Simon Dog]

im not even considered
to be on the transplant list
for i have to many health issue

Which makes acceptance of a transfusion much more understandable.

When you get the transfusion, look at the bag - if it's red, it's not just plasma.

[Fabkiwi06]

Mine has dropped drastically over the last month - from 13 to 7. So far, we haven't found the cause (all test are coming back good... no internal bleeding anywhere). I suspect it's the fact I've had a lot of blood drawn over the last month...

I'm back on the Arenesp (sp?) and we're trying to avoid getting a transfusion.

Any thoughts on what else it could be or ideas that I can do to help boost it up are appreciated.

[PrimeTimer]

This is a good article about hemoglobin and anemia. The link can also be found in the General Discussion section on the thread "Low HEMOGLOBIN" posted by PatDowns on 12-30-2015. 

http://www.kidneyschool.org/pdfs/KSModule6.pdf