The Colon Club

My dad had a CBC two weeks ago which showed very LOW hemoglobin level. After a transfusion, he had a colonoscopy.
They found a mass which was determined malignant. Went in for surgery Tuesday. Hemoglobin went up. Now 4 days post-op his hemoglobin
Is back down. We are very concerned. Doctor said it was normal after surgery. Meanwhile, surgeon said he didn't lose blood during surgery. Anyone familiar with this??? Thanks so much.

Even though the surgeon didn't see a lot of blood loss during the operation it's possible your dad still bled a little internally during the surgery. What kind of levels of anemia are we talking here? If it's fluctuating a point or two, most docs will tell you that's no big deal. If we're talking greater than 2 points of fluctuation, that might be cause for concern and I'd be calling the doctors.

Is he still in the hospital? I had 4 trasnfusions post resection surgery while still in the hospital but, the doc did try a wait and see for the first couple days before ordering them. If he is still in then I'm sure they are watching it.

Hi so he is still in the hospital. They are monitoring and possibly ordered 2 units of blood.I'm just so concerned, surgeon said he wasn't. He was at 9 something then it dropped to 7.7. They retested this am and it's over 8 with out a transfusion. Just hope it's nothing too concerning!!!

after my last surgery I was at below 8 and none of my docs wanted to do a transfusion unless they had to...they waited and I guess were okay with it...I did have to have iron infusions a few months later...

I'm not the best with words so hopefully I explain this to you so you can understand it. If you were to bleed right now(very heavy bleeding, not a scratch or normal cut), your HGB might only be down a point but tomorrow it may be down 3 points but you haven't bleed any more. It takes something like 24 or 48 hours (I forget how many hours) for the HGB level to show accurate, that's why they repeat them daily.

I reread that and I really wish I could explain this better to you but my brain is mush today. Hopefully it's good enough for you to understand.

They should be doing repeat Hgb levels on your dad and hopefully tomorrows will be better. Don't worry quite yet.

Aw29, that's not too concerning post operatively. A little bouncing up/down is going to happen, as long as it doesn't trend downwards he should be OK. 7.7 is on the lower side for a male and probably why they're flirting with the idea of another transfusion or two. Either way it sounds like the docs are on top of it, and if there's any place to be with anemia concerns, it's the hospital. Hope he continues to stable out on his Hgb and things go smoothly for you.

Thanks so much. I really appreciate it!!!!
Just hoping for him to recover from the surgery and to come home soon!!!

I started my journey one year ago thinking I was having a heart attack. Shortness of breath, tiring easily, and hearing my heart beat in my ears. I had some bleeding due to what we thought were hemmoroids. Admitted to the hospital with hemmoglobin at 4.4. Some were surprised I was still standing. Had 4 units over two days, then about a month later another 2 units. Did all the tx and the level is still low but close to normal. This will take time. He will get better.

As a nurse I can say it is usually the amount of iv fluids you get after surgery that drops the hemoglobin. It's not a loss of blood but a dilution of everything because of the fluids. Once the fluids are stopped, it will rebound up to normal pretty quickly.