Has anyone had problems with venesections? My husband has now had 3 consecutive failures where the blood has been too thick for the procedure to work. The equipment at our small rural hospital may be to blame and they are looking into contacting bigger hospitals to see if there’s any advice. Meanwhile, hubby is looking more flushed than usual andmuch more tired. He yawns his way through the afternoon/evening, even with his usual nap. The venesections are his main treatment so it’s a bit worrying.
Any ideas/advice about the venesections?
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MarybellM
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Hi MarybellM, the nurse struggled with my last few venesections but it was trying to get a vein was the issue. Does your husband drink plenty of water beforehand and have they tried putting him on a saline drip while they are taking off the blood? If it is just the blood being so thick, are they using a large enough bore needle and if it’s yes to these questions, I would be asking them to contact his haematologist urgently and get advice/help. It’s not good for him to consistently having very thick blood so please don’t take no for a answer!
Post and let me know how you are getting on. Kindest regards Aime xx😺😺
Thank you Aime. The venesection nurse phoned him and said she’d taken advice. He’s now been referred to the haematologist so just waiting for an appointment. He can mention the saline drip, if they don’t suggest it themselves. Will keep you posted. Thanks again.
No problem, I hope he gets blood off soon. It’s not a nice experience when it’s so hard and they have to try different sites and wiggle needles, etc. Tell him (and you too), not to take no for an answer. Be assertive as he has a right to get proper treatment. Kindest regards Aime xx😺😺
Hi Aime it sounds to me like a combination of inexperienced nurse and blood too thick. I learnt to drink a litre of water in the preceding hour. A nervous nurse who dreaded me used to give me juice, a warm pad for my arm and lie me flatter. It still only dripped and took ages. I hated her moving the needle as it left me with massive bruises. Then the best one lay me flat and dropped the bag to the floor and sat with it. We were chatting enjoyably and she took double the amount in 5 min. I now have saline drip to replace it due to faint feeling afterwards. My advice would be to get a transfer to a haematology department in a hospital even if geographically it's less convenient. And make notes of any results and how much they draw. Keep a record of blood test results. This helped me understand my PV and whether I needed venesections or not. I have PV since 05 and I had so much to learn at the beginning.
Good luck and report back as this helps you keep track and get advice and support.
It seems very odd - and unsatisfactory - to have failed to proceed with three venesections. It sounds like they may just be out of their depth. Venesecting is apparently not routinely taught these days and the nurses learn it on the specialist wards. The needle is very large. The first time I had a venesection my blood was apparently like ‘strawberry jam’. And it took ages to filter out. Got easier and quicker as time went on. But yes, drinking loads of water is important. And there are ways to manage tricky patients. But not having a venesection is not really an option. Let us know how you get on.
Thank you for that. It confirms what I thought myself - it shouldn’t happen. My husband is very good with his fluids and drinks pints of his diluting juice constantly. He ups the volume in the run up to the venesection too. I hope he gets his appointment for the hospital soon.
When I was first diagnosed my haematologist did not want me to leave the hospital without having a venesection. My haematocrit was 54. My veins are difficult at the best of times and I’m guessing I was pretty dehydrated too as, despite several experienced nurses trying, my blood was just too thick and kept clotting in the needle. Finally they decided to take blood from an artery instead - a more traumatic experience - but it worked! Venesection is really important in the initial phase when first diagnosed as its important to get the haematocrit down to around 45 to avoid blood clots and this is the quickest way. Please insist - your husband will feel better for it.
There are plenty of helpful threads on this forum about how to make venesections easier. The most important tip is to drink at least 1.5 liters of water in the hours before the appointment. Good luck!
Thank you - that’s really helpful. All the posts add together a lot of useful information to help us go forward and make a case. I’m going to make notes from all the posts and have them ready when we phone the surgery later. Huge thanks to all who replied! You are great as always.
Hi, I find that it really helps to drink a hot drink just before and during the venesection. I drink plenty of water before but since I started buying a coffee as I get to the hospital and drinking it while waiting and during the venesection, the blood seems to flow much quicker. Might be in my head but I’m sticking to this routine.
My first few venesections were thick and would clot.
The nurse had to put a blood pressure cuff on my upper arm and tighten it a bit.
This worked and the thick blood came right out with no clotting.
I now request a blood pressure cuff be used for a venesection.
I've always experienced problems with them and have tried everything (all of the above and more). The last few times it's even failed when the vascular scan team came in to help... my veins are thin and fragile and my blood is thick and viscous. So within seconds of the venesection needle going in they explode. I had the same problem when they tried using a cannula.
I have my 8 weekly appointment on Monday and I am once again dreading it as I'll arrive home with black and blue painful arms.
Sorry to hear your husband has had these problems. I totally get the small rural area issues. As you know, I'm on Skye and there is now only one doctor in the south skye practice who can do venesections although he's often away on the small Isles and elsewhere so I'm very limited when I need an appointment with him. Did you know that Calum has moved on to the wards in Raigmore too so he's not around for advice anymore (he was always wonderful when I emailed about issues). I hope your husband gets sorted soon - it's never ideal having to wait for a venesection. Give me a tinkle if we can do anything for you as we're in the big town for a few days xx
Hello there!! I was thinking of contacting you when I heard about Calum leaving the job. We’re both very disappointed and sad to see him go. There’s no replacement yet... you worry if there are funding issues or any problems which could prevent or delay the post being filled. Regarding the latest venesection problem, my husband was told that they’d make an appointment for him at Raigmore so we’ll hope to hear during the week, fingers crossed. If not, we’ll have to start putting a bit of pressure on them as the forum posters suggest. You’re very kind to offer support - I hope you’re getting on well and think about you every time we drive through Skye - en route to and from Inverness or Glasgow usually in a rush! Would love to meet up, maybe in the summer?
It is disappointing isn't it because he was a wonderful support and sooooo lovely. I hope they find a replacement soon - i think the department miss him too! I'm actually popping in to haematology tomorrow morning because I had bloods done a week and a bit ago for a different reason (or so i thought but could just be symptoms of a high hct) which showed my hct has shot up in the last 3 months to over the level Calum was aiming for. My gp wasn't fussed (they don't know much about pv) so I called haematology because I know I need a venesection at that hct but they've not been in touch. I worry about heading home without one and then not being able to get a doc to do it at home for weeks. Neither of us are ideally placed are we?! It's so far for you guys to go for a half hour appointment. Yes, do give me a shout when you've time to meet and we can have a coffee and a a good old fashioned natter 😊. You know where I am meantime if I can do anything xx
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