B Thal friend stuggling to recover from cancer op - advice sought PLEASE

My friend has had a major cancer op; we were told he would be in intensive care for 2-3 days but is still there 11 days later. He has lots of gunk on his lungs (but no infection), and doesnt have any energy. The doc in charge doesnt see B.Thal as playing a role. However I know that my friend has had to take lots of rests in the past and  I think that my friend's struggle to recover from his cancer operation and move onto a normal ward may be related to B Thal. My husband is also B Thal carrier and he also has to take to his bed alot to rest so I think I am seeing in both people the effects of B Thal in reducing energy levels. Can anyone point me at any research or experience that supports or denies my idea. If I am right then maybe this will help my friend recover by alerting the hospital to the reason why my friend cannot get out of Intensive Care.

 there's no iron in his food transfusion so I have removed that part to save wasting your time.

 : They found he had a low white blood cell count yesterday - do you know if this would be normal for a B.Thal carrier? Many thanks

If your friend is a beta thal minor, and going by the long time symptoms, one could assume there is some degree of anemia present and this will slow the physical recovery in terms of restoring energy levels. Often, if a doctor is asked "is anemia a reason" the doctor will say yes, but when asked about beta thal they will say no, even though so many beta thals minors suffer from anemia. Do you know what your friend's current Hb is? It may explain everything. Was chemo involved in the treatment?