Help, I was told two weeks ago I had Anemia and have been put on iron tablets, been back to my GP this morning who has said that if my levels dont rise they will look to postpone my reconstruction that is scheduled for three weeks time.
I am devastated, I waited so long for this and now finally have a date and babysitters planned for my 3 and 5 year old and now it might not happen! I cant do another sumemr like this!!!
Has anyone else been in the same position, i am due to have the free tram flap bi laterally so its not a easy operation at least 10 hours, Is there anything I can do to help matters apart from resting and eating better??/
But I’m afraid it does imply that if the anaemia is severe it can take quite a while for iron levels to rise - sorry. And taking too much iron can be dangerous, so you can’t just take masses of supplements for a quicker result. Did your dr say how severe the anaemia is? If it’s marginal you might be fine in 3 weeks by eating lots of iron rich food such as red meat, green leafy veg, peanuts, fortified cereals etc.
Hi nicky, I Haven’t got any good advice but thought I would let you know that I had quite bad anemia when I was having chemo(due to blood loss) and was put on iron tablets.My blood recovered for my next chemo 3 weeks later.Really hope yours recover in time for your opp.
HI there, really sorry to hear you have this to worry about, just when you had your op in sight.
Just a couple of things from my experience. I was aneamic for my first op (HB9.5 and it should be between 11 and 13). They did the op cos it was important to remove the cancer. However I felt awful afterwards and my Hb went down to about 7.5 or 8. They don’t transfuse you unless they have to so my recovery was pretty slow from that op. Also I was trying to pretend all was well just to get home from hospital-and promptly fainted in the corridor (now known affectionately in our family as the Costa Collapse as it was just outside the coffee shop - how embarrasing was that). Anyway that was the worst I felt in a whole 8 months of treatment.
I take iron everyday and it took a couple of months to get my bloods up to Hb10 or so.
SO, my guess is they might delay your op if HB very low or go ahead - but you also need to think about how you are feeling and if an op is good for you or wait a month…
you probably know already but don’t forget to take orange juice with your iron tablets it really helps.
best wishes Nicola