Haemodialysis risk, Iron Overload or Depletion

Saturday     2014-01-25

My iron infusion was never a straight forward thing. On 10 September 2013 I had my permcath operation, before and after which I received 2 units of blood transfusion each night. On 24 and 26 same month I had my first and second dose of iron infusion. 20 days later in another hospital I had an iron study which showed no iron was needed. 2 days later back at the mother hospital, two nurses worked on me, before I could finish telling one of them about my iron test, blood was drawn by the other for yet one more iron test – totally unnecessary. Logically, both tests are unnecessary if they read my file carefully, such wanton waste.

2 Months later another test was done which created much uncertainty. At the time I was dialysing under the umbrella of three different protocols, my iron infusion was to follow protocol. My blood result would lead to three totally different interpretations. Protocol 1 gives me no iron, protocol 2 every month, and protocol 3 every week. I was initially under protocol 1&2, I had no iron. On the 4^th week I landed on protocol 3, I had my iron, and my drug order was changed from follow protocol to infuse every week. When the due time comes, nearly missing out on my dialysis, among all the confusions I missed out on my weekly iron. Just before the 3^rd iron was due, I had my monthly blood test which include an unscheduled iron test purely by chance, according to which I would have no iron under all three protocols without ambiguity this time.

For the past month, if I had iron every week and every week after that for another month according to protocol 3 which would obviously overload me, or protocol 1, I would miss out my iron treatment completely, and protocol 2, I would get 2 infusions.  I don’t know whether I dodged a bullet or missed out on my iron. Being a food ball and got kicked around has some advantage after all, as a result I had one infusion which seems quite enough for me as my test showed. I don't envy the guy who has similar blood result as mine and landed only on protocol 3, who would be made an iron man for sure. I guess somewhere above decision has been made that I can’t be an iron person. There’s no need for another statue idling about. If my iron is such a mess, just imagine what happens to my Aranesp which it supposed to help to absorb. But that's a story for another day.

Iron Protocol for Dialysis Patient ...
http://dialysisday.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/iron-protocol.html