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Blood Transfusion Education

It has occurred to me that most of you are not familiar with the process and details of the blood transfusions that I receive so often. I figured I would give you a two-second crash course in ‘blood’ as far as my experiences have taken me anyway. The period following chemo is when I receive blood products fairly consistently. I receive red cells to keep my hemoglobin levels above 70 and I receive platelets to keep my platelet levels above 10, as I have said before normal range for each is Hemoglobin – 140-160, Platelets – 150-450.

Red Cells – These are usually given two bags at a time and they are “red” in colour and very dense. They feel like a red slushie and should take 1.5-2.0 hours to transfuse, but as you know I have gotten them in as long as 4 hours/bag or as little as 35 minutes. * Side note, I have learned how much strain I put on my heart breaking the land speed record for red cell injection, so I won’t be looking to break any other records any time soon. The red cells are hung in a bag and filtered through a strange looking contraption and then fed in through my Hickman line, which is a catheter in my chest. My vital signs, blood pressure, pulse and temp are checked at the beginning and then every 15 minutes during the first hour and then finally upon completion of the bag, this process is the same for each bag. There are some side affects, or reactions but the most common for me in an increased temp. I don’t receive red cells near as much as platelets, which is good for my mental health as it is a much longer process.

Platelets – I call platelets a light coloured “cup of tea”, as they look like a tea slushie, although they aren’t nearly as thick as red cells. Platelets are given in about 10-20 minutes and I receive them much more frequently than red cells as my platelet levels are more volatile than my hemoglobin. Since November I have received platelets probably about 20 times and red cells about 10 times. The vital sign checks are similar but obviously not near as numerous as the process is only about 15 minutes. Of course there are the reactions and that is my reason behind this little Blood Transfusion Education message, as today of course I had only my second reaction to platelets ever. The most common reactions are itchiness, chills, and shaking, some people never have reactions and others have them every time they get platelets. I have only had one previous reaction, and for that they give IV Benadryl which is quite effective, but of course there is the down time between feeling the affects, having the Nurse contact the Doctor, ordering the drug and the drug taking affect. So today’s platelet transfusion turned into a little bit of an event and erased any plans I may have had for the day.

Nothing major but it was a little inconvenience and an unpleasant experience. Figured I’d play teacher for a little while and give you some of the nitty gritty on blood transfusions. All else is well and I will be in touch either later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Geoff
#4

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