blood transfusion

[liverlover48]

Hello every one. I would like know from any one what is routing of blood transfusion. How long does it take? What place; in the hospital or it can be done same other places? How much it can cost.
Please give me as much information as you can.

[uriah1]

I had a transfusion Feb 10th.  It takes 2-3 hours for each unit of blood.  I needed 3.  I was there overnight after all was done.  I did not have to stop any of my meds.  I started another one (Procrit) to help with the anemia.  I felt  A LOT better after the transfusion.  A LOT better...I was really happy to be getting one since I felt soooo horrible.  

[uncledudeness]

that is correct. i was off all meds for one week. when i resumed, it was at a reduced dose of riba; 600 mg. half my normal dose. i then took 1 shot of procrit weekly until end of treatment.

[liverlover48]

Thank you.
Did you mean that you were 1 week without copegus and pegasys?

[liverlover48]

Thank you for response. It was good to know that there is an outpatient way to get transfusion. Best wishes to you.

[uncledudeness]

i was doing standard treatment. i had to stop all meds for about a week and then i was on half my riba dose and full interferon dose plus procrit, until i finished at 48 weeks. don't worry about stopping for a week. your anemia problem has to be resolved.

[liverlover48]

Thank you very much for you response. Haw about you medicine you were an? You could not stop your treatment. What did they do with the you med?

[Ironpony]

I stayed at the hospital overnight. I'm sure it was much more pricey this way....my doctor told me next time we could do it as an outpatient.
my hgb was 8.1 and was brought up to an 11. Now its stable at 10.6.

[uncledudeness]

i had to go for a blood transfusion last year. i was admitted in the hospital on friday night and was released on sunday morning. after some initial blood work to determine my current hemoglobin level, i was taken to my room and the process started. each pint takes about 1 hour to finish. they usually wait an hour or so between pints (assuming that you got another pint). what they are looking for is an allergic reaction to the blood. my hemoglobin was 7.0 when i went in, and when i left it was around 10.5.....i felt great....each pint raises your HGB 1 point i think.....??not sure how much it costs. i would think you would want to go to a hospital for it, but there may be special clinics that can do it...discuss that with your doctor....good luck