Blood test

[Sam38]

Can anybody help me please. I've been taken off the waiting list for my hysterectomy. I've had a blood test done. They have found two things but I don't know what they are.

LOW HB 108 AND MCV 70.4. Does anybody know what these are. I'm a bit worried.

Thanks

Sam

X

[asoullessstatic]

HB is haemoglobin, so the amount of iron-containing protein found in all red blood cells, it allows red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body, and to remove carbon dioxide. Low haemoglobin can indicate nutritional deficiencies such as iron, folate or B12 deficiency (these are common in endometriosis especially if its on the bowl as if can impair your ability to take up nutrients. Chronic inflammatory disease can also cause low haemoglobin (considering endo can cause a lot of inflammation too it’s not all that surprising).

MCV is mean corpuscular volume, it’s the average volume of a red blood cell. So this goes hand in hand with haemoglobin as a measure of blood health. The normal range in a healthy adult is 80 to 96. It basically means that your red blood cells are smaller than normal. This can also be caused by a range of things such as, again, iron deficiency anaemia, anaemia associated with chronic inflammation, vitamin B12 and folate deficiency. Can also be caused by hypothyroidism etc.

Both of these together would suggest that you are anaemic in some fashion. Of course, your going to bleed a bit during surgery, but also, if you are anaemic it means that your ability to carry oxygen around the body is not as efficient. This is super important in a general anaesthetic as a machine will be breathing for you, and you need good oxygen carrying capacity for good recovery, it’s likely they want to address the cause of the anaemia before they operate so everything is absolutely as safe as it can totally be.

I’m sure you’ll have a follow up soon where they will look at what the cause of the anaemia is (if they have ordered full blood panels they likely did a deficiency screen too and might already have an idea,) it may be something as simple as iron supplements, or a vitamin B12 injection.

Good luck! It’s not something to be overly worried about but, they are trying to ensure the safest procedure as possible.

[Sam38 in reply to asoullessstatic]

Thank you very much for your reply I appreciate it. That has answered my question. Also now I know why I'm always tired.

Endo is a nasty piece of work. One of the worst things us ladies can get.

Thank you again. You have put my mind at rest.

Sam

[Hessyh]

Hi, I think the low Hb is to do with anemia but I’m not sure, ask your gp they should have explained this to you x