Blood work

Does anyone know how to read blood work?

I was looking at my results from last weeks test...I know that every thing states "normal" but I know us WLS'ers are not Normal...so should I be worried about anything??

Copied/Pasted:

Assessments: Unspecified high-risk pregnancy Lab: 083824+CBC/D/Plt+RPR+Rh+ABO...

Name   Value   Reference Range Rh Factor (D)   Positive     RPR   Non Reactive   Non Reactive Antibody Screen   Negative   Negative Blood Grouping   B     HBsAg Screen   Negative   Negative Rubella Antibodies, IgG   19   IU/mL HIV 1/O/2 Abs-Index Value   <1.00   <1.00 HIV 1/O/2 Abs, Qual   Non Reactive   Non Reactive WBC   6.0   4.0-10.5 x10E3/uL RBC   3.82   3.80-5.10 x10E6/uL Hemoglobin   12.2   11.5-15.0 g/dL Hematocrit   36.6   34.0-44.0 % MCV   96   80-98 fL MCH   31.9   27.0-34.0 pg MCHC   33.3   32.0-36.0 g/dL RDW   12.8   11.7-15.0 % Platelets   224   140-415 x10E3/uL Neutrophils   62   40-74 % Lymphs   30   14-46 % Monocytes   5   4-13 % Eos   3   0-7 % Basos   0   0-3 % Immature Cells         Neutrophils (Absolute)   3.7   1.8-7.8 x10E3/uL Lymphs (Absolute)   1.8   0.7-4.5 x10E3/uL Monocytes(Absolute)   0.3   0.1-1.0 x10E3/uL Eos (Absolute)   0.2   0.0-0.4 x10E3/uL Baso (Absolute)   0.0   0.0-0.2 x10E3/uL Immature Granulocytes   0   0-1 % Immature Grans (Abs)   0.0   0.0-0.1 x10E3/uL NRBC         Hematology Comments:

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Jessica

I wouldn't worry about it. I have never heard that we have different standards with our blood work. As far as I know as long as we are in the normal range we are good to go.

Thanks Kathy  :-)

I just wasnt sure that if something was on the high end or low end of a number if that meant the possibility of something to watch for...

Nope! My surgeon doesn't worry about anything that is normal, no matter where on the scale it falls. He does run more blood work than my PCP would run as "normal". And that is where we get the special stuff. My PCP would never run as many iron test as my surgeon does.

Does it mean anything that the Assessment was "Unspecified high-risk pregnancy"??

They need a diagnosis code to run bloodwork. I would guess that's what they used. I would check to be sure tho.

Just keep an eye on your RBC, hematocrit and hemoglobin, those are directly related to Iron intake.  Mine started out at those levels (12.1 and 36) at my initial bloodwork at 8 weeks and they've tanked.  I'm 28 weeks now, just got my glucose test on Monday (which I passed... thankfully!) and they tested Hemoglobin and Hematocrit and now I'm at 9.9 and 30.8.  I just got off the phone with my surgeon actually and we have a plan of attack for the next 3 weeks then re-test.  I was already taking a daily iron, now I need to double that as well as bring my total multi vitamins to 3 (I take the Bariatric Advantage chewables for multi, b12 and iron) as well as add a new multi that has more folic acid (BA crystals, you add them to water) .  If you aren't taking any additional iron right now you might want to consider talking to your surgeon and OB about it so that your levels don't tank like mine did.  Everyone is different though, but this baby is a parasite and is clearly taking from me before she suffers.  If the upgraded vitamin schedule doesn't show improvement in 3 weeks I need to go for an iron infusion (IV drip at the hospital) to bring them back up.  Hoping to avoid that!  The only thing that worries me is that the extra iron will likely cause constipation... it already does a bit, so I need to add something OTC to counter that.  Fun times!

Thank you....that was helpful and I will be sure to keep an eye on those.
I currently take 2 prenatals, 2 folic acid, and 1 vit d3 daily (or the days I remember anyway)....
My surgeon is in Mexico so I don't really have an opportunity to check with him and keep him in the loop.
So I'm hoping my OB can handle it....  :-)

Thanks again and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!
-Jessica

My surgeon was pretty insistent that I stick with my bariatric vitamins because of the fact that they're better absorbed than regular vitamins.  Lots of prenatal vitamins need stomach acids to break them down (which we don't have) and they basically go into the intestine whole, which does us no good.  I have stuck with my Bariatric Advantage vitamins but have added a WLS-friendly folic acid to that.  The BA vitamins actually have more of what we need in them when compared to the prenatals, though it works out in the end because we don't absorb all of it so I guess that it's a break-even.  Just something to consider.

In this case, I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope that the prenatals I'm taking are good enough...
I literally spent all my money (had my surgery in Mexico and paid out of pocket for it) so I have nothing left over...my prenatals are like $5 at Target....

I wish I could afford the BA vitamins, I hear such great things about them.....