Surgery and Infections

Are people with Thal. more likely to get infections when you have some kind of surgical procedures. I had some bad infections after my first child was born and then when pregnant with my son, I found a lump in my breast at about 32 weeks into the pregnancy and I refused surgery until my son was born. After he was born and the lump was removed (it was benign thank God), I started getting severely sick and my breast was almost the size of a small basketball and after some blood tests, they found a very serious infection that almost killed me and then I was hospitalized for treatment and more surgery and had to grow all new skin because the skin was now dead and black and had to be removed. I am healthy now and am looking forward to the birth of my newest baby (due in a few months) but I have noticed that my siblings and I have always been very suseptible to infections or colds and the flu very easily. Could this be attributed to our Thal inter?

I'm not sure about how conventional doctors feel about this, but personally i would say yes!!! After I had my son, I had a uterine infection that wouldn't allow it to contract back to size, so I had to take antibiotics and a small dose of pitocin via pills, and had to stop breastfeeding for a week. Unfortunately, Myke didn't get back on the breast - he is lazy and likes the bottle! 

Also, I have always had a small fissure in my belly button that gets infected at least twice a year, but triple antibiotic ointment seems to work well.

I think our low tolerance to infections comes from the fact that thal lowers the body's oxygen saturation level in the cells, which is required for proper healing.

THANKS FOR THE INFO! MY KIDS GOT VERY MAD WHEN I HAD TO STOP THEM CAUSE I THINK THEY LIKE TO BITE ME! (LOL) BUT FORTUNATELY I HAD PUMPED ENOUGH FOR MY SON THAT I WAS ABLE TO GIVE HIM MY MILK FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS AFTER MY SUGERY AND THINGS LIKE THAT AND HE GOT USED TO IT!
I DON'T SEEM TO KNOW MUCH ABOUT THAL BUT I AM LEARNING! THANKS AGAIN!


 

Hi Romano,

It is documented that thal majors are more prone to infection in general, and surgery leads to much more opportunity for infections to thrive. There are several known reasons and what Courtenay said about oxygen is one of the major factors. Thals do heal more slowly. In addition to lack of oxygen it has been noted that the function of the neutrophils (white blood cells) is decreased, reducing the body's ability to fight infection. Another factor is that bacteria and viruses thrive in a high iron environment. Through either transfusion or hyper-absorption of iron from the gut, thal majors and intermedias normally have some level of iron overload. Even minors can have some degree of iron overload, as all types of anemia cause some amount of excess iron absorption from the gut, due to the iron demand created by the excess erythropoiesis (red blood cell production) that takes place in response to the anemia. (Note: some minors can also suffer from iron deficiency anemia but most do not and don't needed added iron). The higher iron levels are associated with increased infections among other problems cause by too much iron.

The function of iron the body's ability to fight infection is very tricky. With thalassemia, either minor or major the role of iron in the body is different than non thals. From what I understand, healthy iron stores make your immune system strong, but too much loose iron in the blood impairs infection fighting. Remember that iron goes through may phases in the body, loose, ferritin and transferrin. I avoid taking my iron supplements when I am fighting an infection, but if my ferritin is high I get much fewer infections and colds.

As for surgery healing, I heal slow and get complications all the time...