2 week post-op: Hemoglobin, hematocrit, RBC remain depressed

[tjay]

I had never had any issue with Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and RBC before surgery in my the entire life. Normal range all along. Even 5 days before surgery these numbers were normal. But they remain very depressed since surgery. Anyone else experienced this post op?

I got mechanical (On-X) valve 2 weeks ago for your reference.

Surgery team looked for any internal bleeding but to no avail. Now I’m referred to a Hematologist..

Let me know if anyone has any leads or experience to this regard. I can also send exact numbers if necessary.

Thanks

 

[pellicle]

I understood that this takes a while to balance out ... IIRC I had lower red count at first after surgery, however nothing so substantial as to warrant a haematologist ...

I hope the bumpy landing smooths out in the coming months.

Best Wishes

 

[tjay]

Essentially that's what the Hematologist also said. But perhaps my numbers were far too low to prompt a consultation:

Hemoglobin: 7.9 g/dL (Standard Range: 13.5 - 17.7 )
RBC: 2.79 MIL/uL (Standard Range: 4.40 - 5.90)
Hematocrit: 25.1% (Standard Range: 40 - 52%)

I wonder how low others had been right after the surgery (and were stuck there for days)

Hematologist is going to give me a boost of Iron thru IV. She thinks that's the culprit.

Good thing is that she looked at my RBC under the microscope to rule out the possibility that my new valve itself may be causing this damage

Any pertaining experience, please share.
thanks

 

[3mm]

I'm sorry about your issues, but you will overcome them! Be patient, keep walking, etc.

When I had endocarditis 18 months ago my hemoglobin got down to 8.1 so they gave me an IV of iron. It took several hours, so it is worth using the bathroom just before starting that iron IV. Fortunately, my hemoglobin recovered before my surgery (installation of an On-X aortic valve) and has been fine since then.

 

[pellicle]

Hematologist is going to give me a boost of Iron thru IV. She thinks that's the culprit.

sounds good

Consider a Guinness at the earliest opportunity (half joking)

 

[tjay]

I'm sorry about your issues, but you will overcome them! Be patient, keep walking, etc.

When I had endocarditis 18 months ago my hemoglobin got down to 8.1 so they gave me an IV of iron. It took several hours, so it is worth using the bathroom just before starting that iron IV. Fortunately, my hemoglobin recovered before my surgery (installation of an On-X aortic valve) and has been fine since then.

Yes I feel great and just about everything is fine. I don’t feel I had an open heart procedure just 2 weeks back. Yes, I’ve been walking a LOT too

If it’s not for them telling me this or that is low, I would not have known I appreciate that they’re being so thorough and conservative.

Thank you

 

[V__]

I had never had any issue with Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and RBC before surgery in my the entire life. Normal range all along. Even 5 days before surgery these numbers were normal. But they remain very depressed since surgery. Anyone else experienced this post op?

I only remember RBCs - they were depressed for a while. Apparently, if you have blood loss (can easily happen) and get transfusion, usually you don't receive the red blood cells. There are some kind of complications with them. So these cells are stripped from the donor blood you get. I was told it would take 1-2 months for them to get to the normal range. That was accurate - 5 weeks post-op I was at the bottom part of the normal range.

 

[vitdoc]

It is expected that the red blood cell count will go down after surgery. Blood is lost during the procedure. Generally if the body has iron stores or is given iron if the stores are low the blood count will gradually return close to the previous values. It varies from place to place when they decide to transfuse. At your levels some places would transfuse others not. If you have other comorbidities say ischemic heart disease or early kidney failure etc.. transfusion would be used sooner than not. One feels sort of crummy with a low red count but that will usually change within a few weeks. Not sure that IV iron is needed, oral may be adequate.

 

[ncw3642]

I had never had any issue with Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and RBC before surgery in my the entire life. Normal range all along. Even 5 days before surgery these numbers were normal. But they remain very depressed since surgery. Anyone else experienced this post op?

I got mechanical (On-X) valve 2 weeks ago for your reference.

Surgery team looked for any internal bleeding but to no avail. Now I’m referred to a Hematologist..

Let me know if anyone has any leads or experience to this regard. I can also send exact numbers if necessary.

Thanks

When my wife gave birth, her Hgb dropped from 11 (slightly anemic) to 6. While my levels dipped slightly after my OHS, they did quickly return to normal. My wife's did not-- they actually sent her home after giving her IV Iron (Venofer) while saying "it will take 2-3 weeks to return to normal.

This resulted in her going back to the hospital 2 days later due to some general malaise, dizziness and nausea. They gave her a transfusion (our hospital has a cutoff of under 7.0 to transfuse. Instantly felt better.

I will second the oral iron mentioned above. She used these (https://www.slowfe.com/) during pregnancy and after birth which helped stabilize the levels. They are available OTC or you can get a prescription for them from your doctor as well.

Wishing you all the best! Sometimes it just takes a bit for your body to recalibrate. 7.9 really isn't that much to worry about- get it redrawn in a couple weeks to see if any improvements happen!

 

[pellicle]

serious stuff, thanks for sharing

This resulted in her going back to the hospital 2 days later due to some general malaise, dizziness and nausea. They gave her a transfusion (our hospital has a cutoff of under 7.0 to transfuse. Instantly felt better.

glad to hear that bit

 

[Windfinder]

When I got discharged from my AVR my hemoglobin was at 8.3 and they told me that was actually pretty good as it always drops significantly. They put me on iron supplements for a month and said in a few weeks more I should be back at normal range. They seemed so sure and see it all the time so they said running blood test to see progress was not even needed if you don’t have fever, extremely fatigued, pale or a combination of it…

 

[tjay]

When I got discharged from my AVR my hemoglobin was at 8.3 and they told me that was actually pretty good as it always drops significantly. They put me on iron supplements for a month and said in a few weeks more I should be back at normal range. They seemed so sure and see it all the time so they said running blood test to see progress was not even needed if you don’t have fever, extremely fatigued, pale or a combination of it…

Thanks

I don’t know why they freaked out so much in my case if it was so common.
Couple more weeks later, my numbers are already in normal range.

Thanks all for your insights.