Blood transfusion mistake questions....

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Camelot Farms

Camelot Farms

Chickenista
10 Years
Jun 5, 2009
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VA,TN,NC Tri-State area
Last week a very dear friend of mine was in the ER for a hemorrage (spelling) and was given a transfusion of the wrong blood type.
Her kidneys shut down and she is now in a special 'Kidney Facility' and receiving dialysis.

Can any of our BYC RN's or medical workers give some insight on the outlook for her own kidney kicking back in.

The hemorrage ended up being from a wicked ulcer. Otherwise, she is a very healthy 42 yr old.

Thanks!
 
Wish I could help, but a quick sweep of my books said it was "rare" but gave no reversal statistics. Good luck to her.
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I'm sorry, I dont know much about that (I am in to baby and delivery) I hope she gets better,

I can tell you it is very difficult to give the wrong blood. You have to check it when you pick it up, you have to check it with another rn when you give it. There had to have been some major negligence there!
 
Yes, the regulations on giving blood are so stringent, because of the horrible effects of giving the wrong type. I am so sorry this happened to your friend, that is cause for a large malpractice suit because there were some huge failures that lead to your friend being seriously hurt.

I know kidneys can miraculously recover. It depends on how much damage was done to the nephrons. I personally know someone whose kidneys failed due to taking chronic, high doses of Tylenol. He was in complete renal failure for several months, but slowly regained function.
 
I don't know the answer (am not in the medical field) but that thread title made my heart skip a beat. That's WAY beyond a simple, accidental error. I'll be praying for your friend.
 
Thanks everyone. I just talked to her mama and unfortunately she had another bleed today *sigh* but thankfully not enough to require another transfusion.

I dont have the details on how the mix up happened. Her mom was an RN at this hospital for years and years. She told me that they arent saying anything as far as how the mix up happened because they do not want to jeopardize a potential lawsuit that will cover all of the current medical expenses and future expenses.

As soon as the hospital realized the error and of course by then she was in renal failure, they transfered her to a larger specialized nearby city. So she is in good hands now.

Thank you for the kind words.
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I hope that you don't mind, but I asked some friends about this that are in the medical field. None of them have had it happen to any of their patients, but they said this is a HUGE medical malpractice thing for your friend and, yes, they SHOULD have to pick up all medical bills relating to this, not to mention people being in HUGE trouble for skipping the safety procedures.

Two of them also asked how long ago it happened. I said it was last week sometime, but I didn't know what day. They both said that time is on her side, then. They said if it hasn't been too long, and she is otherwise pretty healthy, they think there's a pretty good chance she can regain function, although it might come slowly. If it had been a long time and she'd regained no function at all, not a good thing.

Praying they are right and she's showing recovered function soon.
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