blood transfusion

[lucsdad]

can anyone explain the procedure for blood transfusions?
my son will need one for his surgery, and the surgical coordinator is on vacation. i don't wanna wait for the info.

[Lauren]

It depends on your hospital. Some allow direct donation from a family member and some don't. Ours did and about a week before surgery, my husband donated. It was specifically for Matthew and they broke his pint up in to three "baby pints". He got two of them during surgery and one following while he was still in the PICU. The third wasn't truly necessary, his levels were borderline but they said that it would only make him feel better and if we chose not to give it to him they would have to dispose of it so we decided to give it to him. Our hospital would only allow direct donation from the parents and if we didn't match (we both did) we would need to use donor blood. We asked about friends and family and they said no because "they may not be as honest about 'extra-curricular activities'" and that it would be better to go with the blood bank. Hope this helps!

[laurensmom]

With Lauren we had two options. We could have used blood from the blood bank at the red cross. This option is free and you just need your child's blood type. The second is to have donor's of your choice. They need to be exact matches and it cost around $80 a donor (we were told she needed 3). She ended up only needing one but you need the others on reserve. This is to clean, prep and transfer the blood to the hospital. We had family members donate. There is nothing wrong with the first option. In fact they will tell you that when they test your family members if it is not an exact match then they may have to use their blood. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions...:)

[Mom2William]

Ours allowed direct donation and we went thru. Red Cross. The Red Cross office have specific time slots for direct donations for surgery and we went the week before the surgery and it was coordinated by the doctor's assistant.

[lucsdad]

thanks for the information!

[Katie]

Dillon ended up with donor blood, but direct donation was an option. the procedure for direct donation really depends on the hospital. In our case, I could not be the donor. I do have o-, but when Dillon was born he had severe anemia due to ABO incompatibility. In other words, the antibodies in my blood attacked his. Doug could have donated, but we were a bit too late in starting the process. They said it would take several weeks to set it up. Not knowing that, we waited until closer to the surgery to ask about that option. I *think* that's why we didn't end up doing it, it's bene almost 2 years! Dillon did need a couple of transfusions, but all went well.

[mom2mykidos3]

My daughter just had surgery on Friday. Our PS has started to give his patients procrit injections to up their red blood count prior to surgery in hopes that they don't need a transfusion. This is a fairly new consept and doesn't ensure that your child won't need a transfusion, but it was a good option for us.
Miriam didn't need one. We were so happy. Our doctor says that with the blood transfusions the children usually have to stay longer. Miriam was only in for 3 days. She is going great.
You might want to ask your PS about it. It gives you a 50% chance that your child won't need one. Rather than a 100% chance that they will. The only problem is that some insurance don't pay for it. If that is the case let me know, because I know you can order it online. Let me know if you want more info.

[Jennifer]

I think I'm repeating what every one said.....all policies are a little different. We could use the blood bank or direct donate. We were assured that both went through the same screening process. We chose direct donation. We had to do it w/in a 2 week window of the surgery, but at least 5 days before (to allow for all the screening). We all had to go in to get typed. Both of us matched. My iron was low, Christians blood was 'slow' (didn't fill the bag in the alloted time?). So then my SIL was matched, she donated. Our NS only requested one 'bag'. She ended up using not quite half of it during the surgery....... 2nd surgery my husband donated. None was used.

[Jules]

We weren't given any options accept that Children's encourages direct donation. Chris and I both donated for the surgery. It was comforting to know that Gabe received his dad's blood. Gabe has a check up today. You will be amazed at how fast these little one recover. Time flys, it won't be long and you will be on the other side of this.