Question:
How

I had a CBC on 3/14/02 and my red blood cell count was 3.95, my hemoglobin was 12.2 and my hematocrit was 35.4. I had another CBC on 5/28/02 and my counts were 3.34, 10.1 and 30.3 respectively. The normal ranges for these counts are: RBC=4.2-5.4, HGB=12.-16 and HCT=37-47. Am I in trouble in terms of being prepared for WLS? Should I notify my surgeon now? My surgery date is 8/14/02.    — Rebecca T. (posted on June 28, 2002)

June 27, 2002
Rebecca, I would bring it to the surgeons attention. My hemoglobin fell tremendously right before surgery. My surgeon said he couldn't do it if my hemoglobin was below 11 and sent me to have a blood transfussion, no big deal. That was three days before surgery, surgery went just fine and I had to have another unit of blood afterwards to keep the count up... But I wouldn't just let it go till surgery date and then let him / her find out about it and end up with cenceled surgery. And your levels of "normal" vary by a couple points depending on the doctor and labs running the test.... :) Mine seem to fluctuate a little off and on, my doctor said as long as I'm not 10% below the normal range that I'm ok ... but each Dr. is different. :) Good luck on your journey...
   — Elizabeth D.

June 28, 2002
Hi. I have a chronic problem with anemia. Two years ago, I ended up in the ER for what they thought were kidney stones. In completing a work up on me, they found that my hemoglobin was 7.2 and my hermatocrit was 27. When I had surgery for something else it had gone down to 6.8 and 25. I have been on mega iron pills, which can create problems in your digestive system. During this time, I saw the surgeon that will be performing my surgery (I haven't had mine yet) and he indicated that I would probably have to stay on the iron for the rest of my life. The iron has definately made my energy level go up, but its going slow. But, I would make sure that the surgeon knows this. He may want to put you on iron.
   — Sue F.