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Anaemia 8 years after oesophagus cancer operation

CheSera
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I have just found out from an annual blood check that I have anaemia. My bloods are 8 but I have been told that the 'normal' range is 13 to 18.

I feel fine, I'm not losing blood, my weight is unchanged over the last few years, eat everything but in small portions, i'm not tired, play golf regularly, play squash (but not great because I don't run enough). On the negative side my wife and doctor say I look pale.

Can anyone tell me what the problems could be if I do nothing?

Alec

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    Hello Alec and a big welcome to our forum,

    I just wanted to let you know that I have asked our expert nurses to comment on your post which they will do very soon.

    Best wishes,

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Hello Alec,

    I am one of the enquiry nurses and have been asked by Lucie to read your post. There are several different types and causes of anaemia which is why I’m afraid I can’t tell you what the outcome would be if you were to do nothing. I assume that your doctor would like to do some tests to find out what is going on in which case it would be wise to follow their advice.  You may be feeling fine now but if you become more anaemic then you would start to feel more poorly.

    This anaemia may not be related to your previous surgery. For example, one cause of anaemia is bleeding. This isn’t always something that you would notice, for example bleeding from the digestive system can be hidden in poo. If the type of anaemia you have could be caused by bleeding then your doctor would probably want you to have some tests to find out where the bleeding is coming from. It could be coming from the bowel. 

    Another cause of anaemia is a lack of iron and vitamin B12.  Sometimes even if people are eating well the body may not be absorbing B12 so this needs to be considered.

    I am not sure where things stand now, but I think the best thing to do is to follow your doctor’s advice.

    Take care,

    Julia 

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Julia

    Thanks for the reply.

    My doctor has refered me bck to the oesophagus surgeons and i am waiting to hear from them.

    Hi

    Thanks for the reply

    Before my operation they found out that I was anemic but I put this down to not being able to eat red meat. Since then I have eaten everything (but in small portions because part of my stomach was removed) with no problem and don't feel anything other than well. I don't like taking pills unless I have to and I wondered how low was too low on the scale.

    I think when I had a test 2 or 3 years ago that I was also less than normal and had some 'iron' pills which made me sick so I stopped with the dooctor's agreement.

    Thanks again, I will wait for the surgeons advice.

    Alec

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