Re: blood banking: to do or not to do?

[Guest guest]

Actually it's a good idea to bank your own blood. I have banked my blood for a couple of my surgeries and it came in quite handy, especially during my third surgery when my previous spine surgeon decided to do a 14 hr surgery on me while coming down with chicken pox, which ended up with me dying on the table during the procedure and I also got encephalitis because of his decision. If I had not banked 4 pints of my blood, plus blood from my parents, I wouldn't have been here, although I know there are also back-up sources. I have experienced THIS (receiving donor blood) in the past as well, which I wasn't even told about until years later. Because of THAT, the person that I received the blood from must have either had Hep B or antibodies from it, because now I have the Hep B core antibodies (not actual Hep B & doesn't always show up) and can now never donate blood because of it. They also had Epstein Barr and I have struggled with that as well. I would most definitely recommend banking your OWN blood after the experience I had. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck to you!

Michele A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

Dr Bridwell doesn't let you bank your own blood because he feels patients are weaker and do worse in surgery after giving blood. So you can ask friends/family or trust the bloodbank. It's screened the same either way so I didn't see a big advantage and my insurance didn't cover directed donations. My family members have all kinds of health issues anyway - I went with the bloodbank. It's a personal call...EveSent from my iPodOn Mar 23, 2009, at 10:46 PM, mwolfe34@... wrote:

Actually it's a good idea to bank your own blood. I have banked my blood for a couple of my surgeries and it came in quite handy, especially during my third surgery when my previous spine surgeon decided to do a 14 hr surgery on me while coming down with chicken pox, which ended up with me dying on the table during the procedure and I also got encephalitis because of his decision. If I had not banked 4 pints of my blood, plus blood from my parents, I wouldn't have been here, although I know there are also back-up sources. I have experienced THIS (receiving donor blood) in the past as well, which I wasn't even told about until years later. Because of THAT, the person that I received the blood from must have either had Hep B or antibodies from it, because now I have the Hep B core antibodies (not actual Hep B & doesn't always show up) and can now never donate blood because of it. They also had Epstein Barr and I have struggled with that as well. I would most definitely recommend banking your OWN blood after the experience I had. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck to you!

 

Michele A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

,

I used the four units I donated to myself, but went way beyond that, with each of my post Harrington Surgeries( 1 decompression and two revisions) and have gotten between 15 and 20 units of banked blood with no problems. I did get some direct donations, my landlord's church routinely direct donates, they have a coordinator and everything, and that did give me some peace of mind.

Some doc's just don't have patients donate to themselves as they believe that it wears a patient down in the run up to surgery.

Some that are traveling, I'm sure all that would get complicated, I did donate for myself, but my surgeries were done locally. I hated the process, and especially when they knew after the first I bled quite a bit, and I'd have to get donated blood, it seemed useless, and a pain in the ass.

If you do end up donating for yourself, start now building your blood, eating more iron rich foods.

That's my experience,

Colorado Springs

Re: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do?

Actually it's a good idea to bank your own blood. I have banked my blood for a couple of my surgeries and it came in quite handy, especially during my third surgery when my previous spine surgeon decided to do a 14 hr surgery on me while coming down with chicken pox, which ended up with me dying on the table during the procedure and I also got encephalitis because of his decision. If I had not banked 4 pints of my blood, plus blood from my parents, I wouldn't have been here, although I know there are also back-up sources. I have experienced THIS (receiving donor blood) in the past as well, which I wasn't even told about until years later. Because of THAT, the person that I received the blood from must have either had Hep B or antibodies from it, because now I have the Hep B core antibodies (not actual Hep B & doesn't always show up) and can now never donate blood because of it. They also had Epstein Barr and I have struggled with that as well. I would most definitely recommend banking your OWN blood after the experience I had. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck to you!

Michele

A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

,

My surgeon didn't have people donate their own blood prior to the surgery. His

explanation sounded reasonable to me. He didn't want the patient to be weakened

before such a marathon surgery (though many here have donated and seem no worse

for doing so). And most of the time, a patient needs more blood than they can

safely bank beforehand, so why tax your body so much, if you're going to rely on

other donations anyways? I would need to go back and look at my post-surgery

notebook to find the exact number, but I know that I ended up needing more blood

than what I could have donated pre-surgery. And I needed an additional bag of

blood transfused a few days after my surgery too, which isn't uncommon for many

of us.

Blood goes thru so much testing nowadays that it is very safe. I would think

that you should be fine in whatever decision you make regarding blood banking.

Listen to your surgeon's suggestions and go with what you feel the most

comfortable doing

>

> Hi everyone!

> I have a question about blood banking before my surgery in June. The doctor

does not have his patients bank their own blood before surgery. If a patient

wishes to bank blood, they can do that by finding matching donors, and it may or

may not be covered by my insurance. However, if I need blood after surgery, it

would be covered, and the blood will go through the same screening processes as

blood I would have stored previously. Can anyone share with me their experience

with this? It sounds like it's fine to not bank blood, but I want to be sure

I'm going the safest route!

> Thanks for your help...This group is such an amazing support system!!!

> warmly,

> lauren

>

[Guest guest]

I also banked my own blood prior to surgery. I banked 3 units and my hubby banked 1 for me. Unfortunately, my husband's blood ended up in Tulsa instead of Amarillo- a mistake by the Red Cross- and I had to have one unit of donar blood. I was unable to bank the 4th unit of blood prior to surgery b/c my iron level ended up being too low.

From: mwolfe34@... <mwolfe34@...>Subject: Re: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do? Date: Monday, March 23, 2009, 9:46 PM

Actually it's a good idea to bank your own blood. I have banked my blood for a couple of my surgeries and it came in quite handy, especially during my third surgery when my previous spine surgeon decided to do a 14 hr surgery on me while coming down with chicken pox, which ended up with me dying on the table during the procedure and I also got encephalitis because of his decision. If I had not banked 4 pints of my blood, plus blood from my parents, I wouldn't have been here, although I know there are also back-up sources. I have experienced THIS (receiving donor blood) in the past as well, which I wasn't even told about until years later. Because of THAT, the person that I received the blood from must have either had Hep B or antibodies from it, because now I have the Hep B core antibodies (not actual Hep B & doesn't always show up) and can now never donate blood because of it. They also had Epstein Barr and I have struggled with that as well. I

would most definitely recommend banking your OWN blood after the experience I had. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck to you!

Michele

A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

I asked the same question on Thursday when I went for my preop testing at Northwestern. The doctor I was meeting with, the cardiologist I think, said they did not have their patients bank their own blood for this surgery. She told me I couldn't bank enough blood anyway. I had no problems with the blood source with my other surgeries, so my experience has been a good one using the blood bank. Lois

From: lufflauren <lufflauren@...>Subject: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do? Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 12:52 AM

Hi everyone!I have a question about blood banking before my surgery in June. The doctor does not have his patients bank their own blood before surgery. If a patient wishes to bank blood, they can do that by finding matching donors, and it may or may not be covered by my insurance. However, if I need blood after surgery, it would be covered, and the blood will go through the same screening processes as blood I would have stored previously.. Can anyone share with me their experience with this? It sounds like it's fine to not bank blood, but I want to be sure I'm going the safest route!Thanks for your help...This group is such an amazing support system!!!warmly,lauren

[Guest guest]

Hi Lois,

Thanks for the feedback. it's helpful to hear! After reading these responses, I really think I'll be fine not getting into direct donations. It's interesting how every doctor has their own restrictions!! I'm glad you had good experiences with using the blood bank.

thanks again,

lauren

From: Lois Dougherty <lois.dougherty@...> Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:47:12 PMSubject: Re: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do?

Hello ,

I asked the same question on Thursday when I went for my preop testing at Northwestern. The doctor I was meeting with, the cardiologist I think, said they did not have their patients bank their own blood for this surgery. She told me I couldn't bank enough blood anyway. I had no problems with the blood source with my other surgeries, so my experience has been a good one using the blood bank. Lois

From: lufflauren <lufflauren (DOT) com>Subject: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do? Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 12:52 AM

Hi everyone!I have a question about blood banking before my surgery in June. The doctor does not have his patients bank their own blood before surgery. If a patient wishes to bank blood, they can do that by finding matching donors, and it may or may not be covered by my insurance. However, if I need blood after surgery, it would be covered, and the blood will go through the same screening processes as blood I would have stored previously.. Can anyone share with me their experience with this? It sounds like it's fine to not bank blood, but I want to be sure I'm going the safest route!Thanks for your help...This group is such an amazing support system!!!warmly,lauren

[Guest guest]

Thanks , that's exactly why Dr.Bridwell doesn't have his patients bank their blood. Yet, so many people on here do. It sounds like I'd be fine to just use the blood bank.

Have a great night, lauren

From: rebeccamaas <rebeccamaas@...> Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:24:25 PMSubject: [ ] Re: blood banking: to do or not to do?

,My surgeon didn't have people donate their own blood prior to the surgery. His explanation sounded reasonable to me. He didn't want the patient to be weakened before such a marathon surgery (though many here have donated and seem no worse for doing so). And most of the time, a patient needs more blood than they can safely bank beforehand, so why tax your body so much, if you're going to rely on other donations anyways? I would need to go back and look at my post-surgery notebook to find the exact number, but I know that I ended up needing more blood than what I could have donated pre-surgery. And I needed an additional bag of blood transfused a few days after my surgery too, which isn't uncommon for many of us.Blood goes thru so much testing nowadays that it is very safe. I would think that you should be fine in whatever decision you make regarding blood banking. Listen to your surgeon's suggestions and go with what you feel the

most comfortable doing >> Hi everyone!> I have a question about blood banking before my surgery in June. The doctor does not have his patients bank their own blood before surgery. If a patient wishes to bank blood, they can do that by finding matching donors, and it may or may not be covered by my insurance. However, if I need blood after surgery, it would be covered, and the blood will go through the same screening processes as blood I would have stored previously. Can anyone share with me their experience with this? It sounds like it's fine to not bank blood, but I want to be sure I'm going the safest route!> Thanks for your help...This group is such an amazing support

system!!!> warmly,> lauren>

[Guest guest]

Hi Eve,

I probably wouldn't have any great candidates either...I will just use the bloodbank like you & many others successfully have. Thanks for your input...Hope you're feeling well, lauren

From: Eve Weinbaum <eveweinbaum@...>" " < >Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12:08:10 AMSubject: Re: [ ] blood banking: to do or not to do?

Dr Bridwell doesn't let you bank your own blood because he feels patients are weaker and do worse in surgery after giving blood.

So you can ask friends/family or trust the bloodbank. It's screened the same either way so I didn't see a big advantage and my insurance didn't cover directed donations. My family members have all kinds of health issues anyway - I went with the bloodbank. It's a personal call...

EveSent from my iPod

On Mar 23, 2009, at 10:46 PM, mwolfe34aol (DOT) com wrote:

Actually it's a good idea to bank your own blood. I have banked my blood for a couple of my surgeries and it came in quite handy, especially during my third surgery when my previous spine surgeon decided to do a 14 hr surgery on me while coming down with chicken pox, which ended up with me dying on the table during the procedure and I also got encephalitis because of his decision. If I had not banked 4 pints of my blood, plus blood from my parents, I wouldn't have been here, although I know there are also back-up sources. I have experienced THIS (receiving donor blood) in the past as well, which I wasn't even told about until years later. Because of THAT, the person that I received the blood from must have either had Hep B or antibodies from it, because now I have the Hep B core antibodies (not actual Hep B & doesn't always show up) and can now never donate blood because of it. They also had Epstein Barr and I have struggled with that as well. I

would most definitely recommend banking your OWN blood after the experience I had. That's just my two cents worth. Good luck to you!

Michele

A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!