Red cell mass test

[Vicky_b]

I have to have a red cell mass test in a few weeks & wondered if anyone had experience of this & could tell me more about it.

Thankyou

[Susana7]

Hi Vicky, I had a red cell mass test at Guy’s nuclear medicine department in 2015. It is not a painful procedure. It took about 3 hours and involved a lot of blood taking! First they take a sample of your blood and it goes to the lab so that the radioactive tracer can be added. That takes about an hour so while they are doing it, you can go for a walk, I remember having a quick lunch at Billy’s! Then you get called back into the doctor’s room and they inject the blood back. This time you stay in that room in a comfy chair as then they have to take bloods out again twice, in intervals of 15-20 min if I recall correctly. The only issue I had is that the doctor’s room was tiny and hot and I got dehydrated and started feeling faint halfway through, with all the blood work. So they reclined the chair, gave me lots of water and brought out a fan. The staff were lovely! My advice is to drink plenty of water and be well hydrated before and during the test! Good luck! Susana x

[Ebot]

Yep. As Susana describes it involves a lot of needle activity. Generally pretty painless but drawn out (I’m sure there’s a pun there somewhere!). They used a Canula for the second part of the procedure. (They take from one arm and inject / draw from the other). I had to wait in the waiting room between draws. Be prepared to go off somewhere / bring lunch / diversion with you. There’s quite a bit of hanging about. And if it’s not the usual haem team (it wasn’t at Guy’s) remind them to bandage you tightly when they are done. I inadvertently bled all over the department, corridors etc etc! Good luck.

P.S. I can testify to that small room at Guy’s. I pitied the clinician having to work in there all day.

[Wyebird]

I’ve never heard of a red cell mass test. I’ve just googled it. I’m ET Calr. Why are they doing it?

[Aime in reply to Wyebird]

Hi, it is to check that you have too many red blood cells for the total amount of blood and not just too little plasma. I think! Kindest regards Aime xx😺 the others have given a good description of the process. Nothing to worry about.xx😺😺

[Wyebird in reply to Aime]

Thank you

[Susana7 in reply to Wyebird]

In my case, it was to check whether I had PV (rather than ET), as an alternative to a more invasive bone marrow biopsy. It confirmed PV.

[Wyebird]

Thank you

[Vicky_b]

Thankyou all.

I am having it at Guys so won't wear a jumper!

My blood doesnt flow, no one can ever get any out so that will be fun! Plenty of bruises!

My jak2 test was negative so I'm having genetic tests and a red cell mass test to see why my blood results are not 'normal'

[Ebot in reply to Vicky_b]

Good luck. I managed to get up to The Tate while they prepared my blood. Yes, if you have a tendency to bleed, make sure you’re bandaged tightly! It’s all pretty straightforward.

[Vicky_b]

I dont know. Would that be tested for in the genetic blood test? Prof Harrison said it would test every gene that is anything to do with red blood cells

[Vicky_b]

Thankyou. Maybe it was just tested for with one of the many files of blood they took! I suppose they test for lots that they dont tell us about!

[Vicky_b]

Thankyou x