RBC Levels and Mechanical Heart Valve

Posted by twachter @twachter, Jul 21 1:28pm

Hi. Back in Oct. 2024 I had a SAVR with. mechanical valve. I understand that the healing process can take awhile and I was actually doing very well until about 6 weeks ago. I started feeling very fatigued and have other symptoms as well.

My PCP ordered blood work and my Reticulocyte count came back high at 130900, my Haptoglobin was low at < 10, my Hemoglobin has gone from 13 to 11.9 and my Lactate Dehydrogenase is 237.

Because I have a mechanical Valve, my PCP talked to a cardiologist who thought it may be due to my valve and that I am anemic. So she’s got me on iron and B12 supplements.

Hearing that, I contacted my cardiologist to see if maybe he should be monitoring me instead of my PCP. He doesn’t feel like it’s valve or heart related and suggests I stay under the PCP for now.

I’m not quite sure what to do. When I plug in the numbers for my levels, I come up with possible hemolytic anemia. If that’s the case, are B12 and iron supplements going to fix it? Should I see a hematologist or wait a couple of months to see what the B12 and iron do?

I would appreciate any advice or insight.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart & Blood Health Support Group.

Janell, Volunteer Mentor | @jlharsh | 1 day ago

Hi @twachter, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I am so glad you came here to visit with others about your post-surgery healing. You have to be stressed not being able to find a clear answer to your concerns.

First, understand I am absolutely not a medically trained person. I am a Mayo Clinic MN patient who is navigating my own health journey. I tried to search for “ Reticulocyte Haptoglobin” from the home page and didn’t find other discussions. There are some member comments including them individually, and you may want to try searching yourself (if you haven’t already).

I checked what Mayo Clinic Labs has to say about these tests and it sounds like it is reasonable to expect you learn more by retesting after a couple weeks following initiation of treatment. I guess if it were me, I would go back to my PCP who has identified a concern and ordered your treatment. It will help her to know what your cardiologist told you and ask what she recommends. In the meantime, definitely continue reporting to your cardiologist how recovery is going.

Other members may have more personal experience and expertise.

How are you feeling? Are you taking the iron and B12 your PCP recommended, and do you have a plan to follow up with her?

twachter | @twachter | 21 minutes ago

In reply to @jlharsh "Hi @twachter, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I am so glad you came here to..." + (show)

Hi! Thank you so much for the reply. I am taking the B-12 and Iron per the PCP advice. I will go back in Sept to get retested to see if they have helped.

It’s frustrating because it’s been hard enough adjusting to a mechanical valve and then to have conflicting thoughts from my PCP and local cardiologist makes it hard to really know what’s going on.

I’ve reached out to my Mayo surgeon, but have gotten no reply….

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