Blood transfusions

camul
camul Member Posts: 2,537
in Breast Cancer #1
On aFriday I was talking to a lady whontold me her mother recently passed, she had colon cancer. I toldnher I was sorry.. She said she did not die from the cancer , it was from a blood trasfuson. She got a septic infection.
Then on Friday, a friend from my support group, went into septic shocknwhile getting a transfusion. He had a blood cancer . It was last one to bring his blood count back up. aHe was in a trial and his count drpped so did transfusions to get his levels back up.
I had no idea that they could be dedly. So many people here have them, they just seem
so routine. Both had ports, but it was only the lady n her 50's that her daughter said it was from an infection in the port?
I am so amazed how much I keep learning about things I never much thought about!

Carol

Comments

  • SIROD
    SIROD Member Posts: 2,194 Member
    #2
    Septic

    I was aware of it because I had one very bad infection prior to being dx with cancer.  My doctor had called my parents to ask them to come up as I wasn't expected to make it and I still had a son at home.  I was transferred to a larger medical center and placed in the ICU.  My temperature was exceedingly high, some of my organs where showing signs of failing and etc.  I had a minor surgery the week before.

    Have had my share of infections but that first one was the worse.  I really don't like to stay to long in a hospital for that very reason.  I guess any opening such as a port can cause bacteria to enter.

    Probably it doesn't happen as often as it once did and so we think of it as normal, and safe.

    Best,

    Doris

  • sandra4611
    sandra4611 Member Posts: 121
    #3
    SIROD said:

    Septic

    I was aware of it because I had one very bad infection prior to being dx with cancer.  My doctor had called my parents to ask them to come up as I wasn't expected to make it and I still had a son at home.  I was transferred to a larger medical center and placed in the ICU.  My temperature was exceedingly high, some of my organs where showing signs of failing and etc.  I had a minor surgery the week before.

    Have had my share of infections but that first one was the worse.  I really don't like to stay to long in a hospital for that very reason.  I guess any opening such as a port can cause bacteria to enter.

    Probably it doesn't happen as often as it once did and so we think of it as normal, and safe.

    Best,

    Doris

    Infections are awful. I got

    Infections are awful. I got one on my left side in the hospital after my double mastectomy three months ago. Although I had a blood transfusion (2 units), the infection had already started so I know I didn't get it from that. In spite of being on antibiotics, the infection progressed quickly. On the 3rd day they switched me to IV vancomycin, a very strong drug that is the toughest they've got.  It worked and began to stop the progression and even reverse some of the "iffy" places. Unfortunately, a lot of skin, muscle, and soft tissue was already dead. I had a second surgery to remove parts of three muscles, most of the tissue and lymph nodes under my arm and along my side. I lost about a quarter of the skin covering one of the implants, so that was taken out and a tissue expander placed. I stayed on the IV antibiotics at home for another month.

    Now that I'm healed and the tissue expander full, I go back in tomorrow for surgery #3. The plastic surgeon will do some procedure to give me more range of motion on the "bad side", replace the tissue expander with a new kind of implant, and replace the implant on the "good side" with a matching new kind of implant. I'm scared to death of another infection!

Discussion Boards