Elizabeth N.
Herder of cats
NOT ACCEPTABLE. YOU NEED FURTHER EVALUATION.
Pre-op labs
- Thread starter catecholamine
- Start date
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
Did I mention that the NP scheduled the iron infusions for AFTER the surgery while I'm in the hospital? I'd have thought they'd want me to have them before...ugh, I dunno. I figure they would have put a hold on the surgery if it was that big of a deal.
Okay, have you registered for Boyce/Williams patient portal?
If not, call and tell the nurse that you absolutely need to talk to the surgeon about the blood in your urine. And while you have them on the phone, get access to their portal set up AND then EMAIL HIM! Do it first thing tomorrow.
If you have, email his office TONIGHT thru the portal. And then call tomorrow and follow up...BE A SQUEAKY WHEEL!
If not, call and tell the nurse that you absolutely need to talk to the surgeon about the blood in your urine. And while you have them on the phone, get access to their portal set up AND then EMAIL HIM! Do it first thing tomorrow.
If you have, email his office TONIGHT thru the portal. And then call tomorrow and follow up...BE A SQUEAKY WHEEL!
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
I am signed up. I'll email them now.
EDIT: I sent this:
"I had my pre-op labs done and went over them with the NP at the final pre-op appointment. One thing she did not mention was that my labs showed blood in my urine. I'm also quite anemic (iron was 21). Is it normal to find blood in the urine? Could it be related to my anemia? I am not sure how I got this anemic in the first place."
EDIT: I sent this:
"I had my pre-op labs done and went over them with the NP at the final pre-op appointment. One thing she did not mention was that my labs showed blood in my urine. I'm also quite anemic (iron was 21). Is it normal to find blood in the urine? Could it be related to my anemia? I am not sure how I got this anemic in the first place."
Elizabeth N.
Herder of cats
Now, call them tomorrow and make sure you get an answer.
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
Will do. Thanks!
Okay, here is what happened to ME when I went into surgery with low iron. I did not wake up easily from anesthetic. I remember them hurting me with sharp objects rubbing them into my sternum, pinching my nail beds, slapping my face, saying "BREATHE". I was in recovery for 2 hours while they stabilized me. Labs showed my hemoglobin (?) was 6, they said I needed transfusions STAT. I got 2 units as soon as they found my rare blood type, which wasn't until the next day (cross matching difficulties). In the meantime, before I got the blood, I COULD NOT BREATHE, even with oxygen. I felt like I was suffocating. I knew I was going to die, and nobody was listening to me. Finally, I got hold of my husband's shirt and yanked him to me and said "I am dying. Call a Priest". That scared him, and he started moving mountains to get my blood faster.
That happened during my hysterectomy/Tummy Tuck/Posterior repair surgery. I was under for 6 hours and my OB-GYN said mine was the worst posterior repair she had ever seen. Her exact words were "I was having kittens trying to sew you back together".
NOW, your FERRITIN must be high as well as your iron markers going into surgery. You MUST have iron infusions BEFORE surgery. Because afterwards, you will be dead, and iron infusions won't matter.
The blood in your urine could be a simple bladder infection. It might be something more sinister. An intelligent person would CANCEL surgery until this is resolved. Your surgeon, if he knows, will certainly cancel surgery for either blood in the urine or severe anemia. It is YOUR responsibility to SPEAK UP AND MAKE SURE HE KNOWS ABOUT THESE THINGS.
I could have died. I did not know then what I know now about iron. Looking back, the hysterectomy was done for excessive bleeding. But I should have had iron infusions before surgery. My recovery took MONTHS instead of the few weeks it should have taken. When you receive whole blood, you experience a "crash" about a week after, when the donor blood reaches it's end. I felt like cat shit for a VERY long time.
That happened during my hysterectomy/Tummy Tuck/Posterior repair surgery. I was under for 6 hours and my OB-GYN said mine was the worst posterior repair she had ever seen. Her exact words were "I was having kittens trying to sew you back together".
NOW, your FERRITIN must be high as well as your iron markers going into surgery. You MUST have iron infusions BEFORE surgery. Because afterwards, you will be dead, and iron infusions won't matter.
The blood in your urine could be a simple bladder infection. It might be something more sinister. An intelligent person would CANCEL surgery until this is resolved. Your surgeon, if he knows, will certainly cancel surgery for either blood in the urine or severe anemia. It is YOUR responsibility to SPEAK UP AND MAKE SURE HE KNOWS ABOUT THESE THINGS.
I could have died. I did not know then what I know now about iron. Looking back, the hysterectomy was done for excessive bleeding. But I should have had iron infusions before surgery. My recovery took MONTHS instead of the few weeks it should have taken. When you receive whole blood, you experience a "crash" about a week after, when the donor blood reaches it's end. I felt like cat shit for a VERY long time.
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
I shouldn't lose that much blood since it's just a lap DS - but I know what you're saying. I really, really don't want to cancel. I did send in that message and we'll see what they say. I just don't know. I'm not trying to be an idiot here, I just don't want to put the surgery off because I've been waiting and the time is almost here and...well, you know. I will see what they say. I will also see my PCP and see if he will refer me to a hematologist.
You didn't hear what I just said. My iron COMING OUT OF SURGERY was what yours is NOW. When I went under, it was obviously higher than yours. And I almost died.
CANCEL YOUR SURGERY. I do NOT want to read a post made here by your next of kin that you died.
I know you don't want to cancel. I wouldn't want to, either. Your surgeon's office dropped the ball by not looking more carefully at your labs. That's on them. Let out your frustrated Inner Bitch on them, tell them to do their GD job.
When I had infusions, it was once a week for 6 weeks. So if yours go the same way, you're looking at rescheduling anyway. PLUS, you have to get a proper diagnosis on the blood in your urine. Cloudy urine with blood in it usually means bladder infection. That's something you want to treat before surgery.
CANCEL YOUR SURGERY. I do NOT want to read a post made here by your next of kin that you died.
I know you don't want to cancel. I wouldn't want to, either. Your surgeon's office dropped the ball by not looking more carefully at your labs. That's on them. Let out your frustrated Inner Bitch on them, tell them to do their GD job.
When I had infusions, it was once a week for 6 weeks. So if yours go the same way, you're looking at rescheduling anyway. PLUS, you have to get a proper diagnosis on the blood in your urine. Cloudy urine with blood in it usually means bladder infection. That's something you want to treat before surgery.
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
It's supposed to be 2x a day for 5 doses, so for 2.5 days. My iron is 21 and my hemoglobin is 11.6 (wasn't posted because it's not abnormal) - the 6.something is the A1C (blood sugar thing).
don't take a chance, too risky.
catecholamine
Resident Nerd
Waitaminute, maybe I'm confused, but my hemoglobin is only a tiny bit below normal, but my iron is super low. Doesn't that mean that I'm not that anemic, just highly iron-deficient? I don't get how this happened.
EDIT: My iron binding results were normal, for the record.
EDIT: My iron binding results were normal, for the record.
Last edited:
Elizabeth N.
Herder of cats
Highly iron deficient = iron deficiency anemia.
Did you notice what Sheanie said?
Did you notice what Sheanie said?
Similar threads
