HELP!!! FRIEND IN SERIOUS TROUBLE FOLLOWING WLS!!!

HI OH FAMILY,

I HAVE A FRIEND WHO HAS RNY WLS 5YRS AGO.  SHE RECEIVED HER LABS AND WAS NOTIFIED THAT ALL OF HER LEVELS ARE WAY BELOW WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.  SHE HAS BEEN TO SEVERAL DOCTORS AND WAS ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL A FEW TIMES BUT THEY STILL CAN'T FIND OUT WHY SHE IS LOSING BLOOD & LEVELS WON'T GO UP.  SHE JUST GOT ANOTHER SET OF LAB RESULTS YESTERDAY AND DISPUTE TAKING MORE SUPPLEMENTS PER SCRIBED  BY HER DOCTORS, HE LEVELS WERE DOWN EVEN MORE. HERE IS A LIST OF WHAT I KNOW OF HER LEVELS:

Oh, I asked her what she thought went wrong and she did say that for the past two years she wasn't taking all of her vitamins or enough protein but how can she get her levels back to normal?

Total Iron  13
Iron Sat       3
HCT       25.8
MCV       62.5
Hemoglobin   7.0
All Vitamins are below where they should be
Vitamins B    254
Protein is also low

The doctors feel that she is loosing blood somewhere but they can't find where.  She has had numerous tests and procedures but nothing is working.  She is getting very worried and depressed.  HAS ANYONE EXPERIENCED THIS?  WHAT DID YOU DO TO GET YOUR LEVELS UP?  I am very worried for my friend and want to be a support to her because she doesn't have any family support..  I had wls 7 months ago and am doing fine.  Please give me any suggestions that I may pass on to her.  I appreciate any help you  can give.

Val

 
I'm sorry for your friend and hope she is well very soon!!! 

She's severely anemic.  Why aren't they transfusing at this point?  Some, if not most, transfuse blood and call it "critical" at 7.O which is where she is right now.

You report that her B VitaminS is 254.  If that is her B12, she has Pernicious Anemia which is low iron and H&H from lack of B12.  I have a long post on PA on my profile along with the treatment plan I used to conquer it.  You can also read about PA on medical websites such as www.webmd.com  

Total iron is her Ferritin level? 13?  Ten (10) should require iron transfusions intravenously!  She needs blood.   What's the problem here?  Iron saturation is 3?  She's obviously without low on iron.

She may be bleeding from somewhere - an ulcer?  They should be looking for the possible source of the bleeding. Have the done an endoscope?  However, it's possible that she has such a low H&H simply from lack of iron especially since she doesn't take her vitamins.  It takes a while but the H&H could become very low simply because it cannot keep up the body's need to produce red blood cells in the bone marrow because of not enough B12.  That said, at this point to recover without intervention (IMO a blood transfusion) would take literally MONTHS of adhering to a strict protocol to get her back on track! 

I can't understand why something isn't being done to help her.  I'm not a doctor or a nurse and obviously, even if I were, I could not diagnose someone over a computer.  That said, I've experienced blood loss, blood transfusions, and pernicious anemia and have done a lot of research on it.  Again, you can find information on my profile and at reputable, medical websites.

Please let me know if this information proves helpful and how your friend is doing!?!?!?!

Oh thank you so much Butterfly Reborn;

I will definately pass this information on to her.  I know that she has had lots of tests and scopes and what not.  I think initially she refused the transfusion but I told her she needs to do it.  She is suppose to see a specialist next Tuesday to discuss the transfusion and other issues.  I do hope she will allow them and get it together.  I thank you for taking time to answer me and will forward this information and your profile to her.  Thank you again. 


Valerie

 
How is your friend doing?

Hello, oh thank you for asking.  She is doing okay, is at the doctor today to see the blood specialist.  I will let you know when I find out more.  Take care.

Val

Hi, I wanted to give you an update on my friend...she will be starting blood infusions today for the next 6 weeks.  The doctor told her it was an emergency and started it right away.  Also, after he gets the blood levels up, he will be looking at why it got low in the first place.  He told her his priority was to get the blood up now or she could have grave consequences.  That is what is happening now.  Thanks for your concern and thoughts.  I know she appreciates it and so do I.

Valerie

 

Thank you!  I've been so concerned for your friend!

She needed blood desperately so I am so glad to hear that the doctor did this immediately.  I'm sure she doesn't have six weeks of blood transfusions ahead of her; rather, they will give her two units of blood and check her levels every 4-12 hours for two days.  Then, she'll go a few more days and test again.  Her bleeding is obviously very slow if she's bleeding at all anymore.  She may have had a low H&H simply from B12 deficiency and no vitamins or she could have had slow bleeding and it has stopped on its own or she could have a slowly bleeding ulcer or some other internal problem.  They will know more as they watch her numbers.  If she recovers and keeps the numbers up without them dropping again, they'll be able to be more conservative on the testing and not waste time and money.  

I am so relieved that she is being treated and approved the transfusion.  She is not going to believe how well she feels in a couple of weeks.  She likely doesn't realize how badly she has been feeling as the change was slow.

Please let me know, if you don't mind, how she is recovering!

Thank you!

I will do that my friend.  You take care of yourself as well.  I will keep you posted.

Valerie