SpleenRemoval

Hello , it's my first post here, I am 25years old ,
and I get my transfusions every 2 weeks 450ml
The Doctors years now they are telling me to remove my spleen because its enlarged 16cm
And my white blood cells are between 3000-3500 n sometimes 4000
The problem is thatch WBC started droppping like that when I was taking ferriprox they have dropped even more lower but the doctors didn't stop the medicine just made the dosage smaller but even then I had a problem plus my ferritin went up to 8000, now I am taking deferral again , and my ferritin went from 8000 to 5000 within 8 momths , since I was 12 years old I was taking ferriprox and sice I have stopped it around 2 years my WBC are very often low , the doctors said it is because of the spleen , my hb when I go for tramfusions I try to keep it around 9.5 to 10 and when I leave the hospital is around  12.5 - 13
I always since I was a child had my tramfusions every 2 weeks , my spleen is 16cm for the last 3 years before that was about 14-15. I don't want to do a splemectomy , what else can I do to shrink it? I started taking magnesium vitamin d , c, e , and folic acid , also some pills called moducare that I think they are really helping the immune system. Do you think it would be better to transfuse every week instead? And how much blood should I take? Thanks for your help

Hi Eva,

Has the amount of blood you take increased at all or has it stayed the same?

And regarding your message, yes, fresher blood will last longer and not be removed by the spleen so quickly. Is it possible to arrange volunteers to be your donors?

Hi Andy! No it's not increased its in the same levels , we have to bring volunteers almost every  time  to give blood but even then the blood we will get for our transfusion it is from the blood bank and they always keep the fresher blood and give us the one is expiring In only 2 weeks...

Eva,

I think the old blood is causing the problem. If hypersplenism was present, your demand for blood would rise, and your Hb would drop lower between transfusions. It's a terrible situation when surgery is recommended rather than just giving you fresh blood.

I do not support splenectomy in thal patients unless one of two things occurs. Is the spleen dangerously large? No. It is large but the current size poses no danger and the size has only increased 1 cm
Is hypersplenism present? In your case, this does not appear to be so. Your blood turnover is no higher, but the old blood is being filtered out more rapidly by the spleen (as is normal). I believe the solution is fresher blood.

There are also occasionally mentions of herbal remedies to reduce spleen size. I am not familiar with them and will ask other members to reply if they have any information about herbal  spleen treatments.

Thanks for your help ,  I will go to the hospital next week and mention all that to my doctors , as well as to the hospital's blood bank to do their best and provide fresher blood .  It's really unacceptable the whole situation and the lack of knowledge here....