Thread: Hemoglobin

Is it possible for a child of 11 years of age to have a hemoglobin of 4 and developed leukemia to walk into office doors just feeling fine, just scared because he has a disease?

(not a trick question)

yes. It has obviously been a chronic event and she has compensated. Due to the level you are rechecking, I would recommend only being done by a Point of Care testing method. Unfortunately if you have a low platelet count you have real problems. Make sure you check fasting iron levels before you proceed with red cell recovery. Amelia Baffa has great resources at her fingertips if you are anywhere near the east coast. If you are west coast contact Marianne Knauss at Portland Oregon.

Trudi mentions that this is a chronic situation and that the patients body has compensated. She goes on to give good advice on tracking the anemia and also who to call for help. I might add one more name - Steve Cade, Children’s Hospital of Central California (http://www.noblood.org/forum/member....stposter&t=216), in case you are in that area. I also thought I would give you a simple explanation of what happens in our body when we are chronically anemic.

Chronic= Lasting for a long period of time or marked by frequent recurrence, as certain diseases: chronic colitis

Acute= Afflicted by a disease exhibiting a rapid onset followed by a short, severe course: acute patients

When assessing patients, determining whether the condition they are presenting to us is Chronic or Acute is very important. Chronic conditions often offer a pattern and history of treatment. This allows us to assess whether or not certain treatments have been tried and were or were not successful. In the case of anemia we are able to decide whether the patient is in an emergency situation, as in the case of acute extreme blood loss.

Why might a chronic anemia be less emergent? As Trudi said, in chronic anemia the body begins to compensate for the lack of red blood cells (anemia). It does this by changes in the blood vessels and by releasing more oxygen to the tissues.

The first issue in anemia is - Oxygen delivery to tissues and organs. If the tissues don't get enough oxygen they begin to break down. (Hypoxia)

Think of red blood cells as part of a long train. The RBC cars enter the lungs and fill with oxygen. They then travel through the body delivering oxygen to the tissues. When everything is normal (no anemia) they don't deliver the full load of oxygen, because they don't have to. When the body determines that the number of box cars (RBC) is low (anemia) it prompts the existing box cars to deliver more of their freight (oxygen).

There are some other things that happen such as increased heart rate: The box cars move faster. Also by constricting the blood vessels in parts of the body where blood isn't as critical (for the time being) the body makes certain that the box cars give better service to the vital organs and intestinal tract etc.

We are made in an awe inspiring way! Are we not?


Hope this helps.

its a personal question when I was 11 years old I was diagnosed with A.L.L. and i underwent 3 years of intensive chemotherepy and radiation treatments, I went into remission from the A.L.L. in a short but challenging 7 days, and I did feel fine with a hemoglobin of 4, and they doctors said that I should not even have the strengh to walk or move at that point, I am 18 years of age now and my health is doing fine, I was just wondering because of all those years, the doctors could never give me a accurate answer of why I could walk

Since the early 1990's Medical Science has undergone tremendous growth in understanding the body's ability to accommodate anemia. Some things we assumed as fact have been show to be untrue. The experience of patients such as you has helped expand the knowledge and experience of physicians.

I am certain the physician's who were amazed at your ability to function with a low hemoglobin tell your story when expressing the curve of their personal growth.

Thanks for sharing.

im not sure if they use MY personal story, but maybe a version of it, they said said it was extremely rare, so I was just wondering.

Please let us know if you are aware of any specific treatments you received during this 7 days....for example, did you receive a blood transfusion or were you treated with blood-building medications?

We are glad to have you as a noblood.com member!

Debbie A.

We just had a child walk into our E.R. with what she thought was an ear infection. Her hemoglobin was 3. Our PICU unit is not in yet, so we had to transfer her to another facility. They did transfuse her due to the chemo, but it was strange, her hemoglobin never did go up. She is being treated with Procrit and Iron. She has lost all her hair. But, so far so good. I hope her outcome is like yours. Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes, yvette

im not sure what I recieved really, i think they cared more to treat my advancing A.L.L. rather than the Hemoglobin of 4, i recieved blood transfusions before in that time period but i don't recall ever recieving one within those 7 days, just getting a central venous catheter inserted into my chest so they wouldn't have to give me a I.V. everytime I needed a treatment.