Feeling devastated

I'm scheduled for surgery on Monday the 14th but fear it will be postponed after today's heavy bleeding. On Friday I tried to lift a heavy object and felt a pulling sensation in my lower abdo. Started bleeding almost immediately but wasn't too worried as it was very light. Up until today I thought it wouldn't be a problem but while talking to a friend on the phone I felt the first large clot pass and have been passing them regularly since. My hb was 8.4 as of two weeks ago and I've been taking 3 fefol per day along with 30mgs of provera to prevent any bleeding (it obviously hasn't worked) and am frightened that I'll be too anaemic for surgery next Monday (dr wants another blood test this week and says if it's not up around 10 he won't do the surgery).

I'm absolutely devastated now (although I'm not quite down for the count yet I'm pretty sure I won't be entering the castle next week) and wonder if I'll ever reach a high enough hb to have the operation? I mean, if I can't take the necessary medication to stop me menstruating up until the surgery how on earth can I ever 'not' be severely anaemic in preparation for the hyster that's supposed to heal my proneness to severe anaemia in the first place?

I'd love to hear from anyone who's had the surgery with an hb of less than 10 and if it adversely affected them - I've pretty much resigned myself to the conclusion that I'll be having a transfusion anyway but I've heard that going into the operation already anaemic is bad for recovery.

I'm just so devastated.
regards
Xaviera

Girl- call you doctor and ask if iron supplements would help! Unfortunately, nowadays getting information from our doctors is like pulling teeth- If you don't ask you won't receive. Vitamins and iron should help you and I took metamucil twice a day starting two weeks before surgery. That will help alleviate the constipating effect of the iron supplements and i did not have any problems with gas after surgery.

Best of luck!

Thanks Magoo - I'll definitely try the metamucil - Fefol is an iron and folate supplement that usually does the trick but unfortunately is very constipating so the metamucil is a good idea.

I'm sure I won't be able to reach an hb of 10 by next Monday though with this kind of bleeding.

regards
Xaviera

My daughter is very anemaic and can not tolerate iron well. Two things have helped: the first is blackstrap molasses, I believe it is called. Sometimes it is hard to find in reg grocery store, but I have found it, usually in baking or syrup aisle. Health food stores would have it too, even if it is called something else. The main thing is that it is very thick syrup that is VERY high in iron and you take a tablespoon or so, and it does not seem to bother tummy. The other thing that helped is taking a womans vitamin with extra iron, instead of taking the iron seperately.

Good luck and try to be patient...it does take time to build it back up. Sometimes tho, if they can not get it high enough, and you keep having heavy bleeding and clots, and they need to go ahead with the surg, they will do transfusion first. Even if they do not, you may want to have fam members donate blood in case.

Best wishes!

Xaviera

I'm so sorry you are going through this again! Have you called your doctor to discuss and see if there is anything more you can do this week so try to build up your iron count? As I vaguely recall,(from years back when I used to work in OB-GYN) there is also an iron injection that can be given for severely anemic people---although I cannot remember how long it takes for the injection to build the blood back up, or if they need to be done in a series. I would suggest calling your doctor today and asking him about it.

Please keep us posted on what you find out.

's and Blessings

I'm just about to step out to go and see the dr - I'm feeling better today because I know my hb isn't as low as it was a few weeks ago - I actually feel really healthy and my heart rate is stable and strong rather than rapid and weak as it was at my worst. I had just finished a 6 week course of iron injections before my last blood test and was really shocked that I'd only gone from 6 to 8.4 after all that. Now I'm taking 3 Fefol per day and eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg along with liver and other iron rich meats.

I'll let you know what the dr says.. Thanks once again for all your support - I really don't know what I'd do without this site.
regards
Xaviera

Hi there

One piece of information that I thought I would pass on to you after having read your post. My Dr told me when I was taking my iron supplements pre-op to always take them with Vitamin C as this helps your body to absorb more of the iron. I always had my tablet with a glass of orange juice - this could also help with the constipating effect of the iron.

I realise this is just a little thing, but figured that you might like to try anything.

Best of luck for your surgery. I'm hoping that you won't be delayed. I had to go down that road and it wasn't fun.

s

Helen (aussielady)

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. Hopefully things will change for you and you can go ahead with the surgery.

I didn't realize that just from lifting something that it could cause all those problems. I have to do some lifting at work so now I'm wondering if maybe I should just let someone else do it until I am doing better. I am not scheduled for surgery, but have been bleeding since the beginning of Sept. I am taking prometrium to try to stop the bleeding.

Hope everything goes well for you.

My surgery is the 14th too. Iron supplements never worked for me, and they don't work for my daughter either. The only thing we have found that will get our counts up is eating red meat (mostly hamburgers) and brocolli. I can actually get my count up in 48 hours by eating those two things.

And iron is absorbed better if it is taken with vitamin C. So you may want to try that too.

Here's hoping for the best for you!

Brenda