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Patient is part of big “first” for Cy-Fair Medical Center
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| CFMCH patient Elva Marlow opted to use her own blood during her open heart surgery, rather than donated blood. |
By VALERIE JONES
Elva Marlow said she felt no apprehension when she entered Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery a few months ago.
This was interesting, considering Marlow would be the very first patient to undergo a bloodless open heart surgery at that hospital.
Due to Marlow’s religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness as well as personal beliefs, she was adamant about using her own blood during surgery, rather than donated blood.
“That was a firm decision for me. It was written in stone,” she said.
Marlow, her cardiac surgeon Daniel Stroud and the hospital’s blood management coordinator Leslie Richards discussed Marlow’s concerns and opted to perform the surgery without using donated blood.
“Bloodless” means medical or surgical treatment without the use of stored allogenic blood or primary blood components.
In Marlow’s case, doctors collected the blood she lost during surgery, filtered it and then re-infused it into her body.
Marlow said she had researched bloodless surgery beforehand and was told all the risks by her doctors. She said her daughter had a blood transfusion at the age of 21 and almost died.
“After witnessing that, I decided then I would never get a blood transfusion using donated blood because you never know,” Marlow said. “It’s too much of a risk – not knowing what’s in everyone’s blood. You can’t screen it for everything.”
Marlow said she sat down with her doctor and had an in-depth talk about her surgery before it happened.
“I asked Dr. Stroud if he was confident in his ability to do this,” she said. “He told me he was and I asked him if he was willing to go into this surgery with no backup blood. He assured me he’d performed this procedure many times on other Jehovah’s Witnesses patients at other hospitals.”
Marlow said she had to make a decision of being transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital to have her surgery or stay at CFMCH. After much prayer, she chose the latter.
“It would have put a hardship on my family to have this done downtown,” she said. “By me being able to stay here, it was a whole lot easier. A lot of people don’t have the money to go to St. Joseph’s or other hospitals downtown. I had the care and support from my family and friends right here.”
Marlow credited all her doctors who helped her during surgery.
Since her open heart surgery, Marlow has had other health issues, including surgery on her left leg. She still maintains a positive outlook.
“I try to keep my spirits up no matter how bad I hurt,” she said. “I have this fight and desire to keep fighting because I have a purpose. My goal and purpose is to see my family happy together. That’s what I fight for. I’ve fought all these years and I want to see it through until the end.”
For more information about blood management at CFMCH, visit www.CyFairHospital.com/BloodManagement or call 281-897-3485.
This was interesting, considering Marlow would be the very first patient to undergo a bloodless open heart surgery at that hospital.
Due to Marlow’s religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness as well as personal beliefs, she was adamant about using her own blood during surgery, rather than donated blood.
“That was a firm decision for me. It was written in stone,” she said.
Marlow, her cardiac surgeon Daniel Stroud and the hospital’s blood management coordinator Leslie Richards discussed Marlow’s concerns and opted to perform the surgery without using donated blood.
“Bloodless” means medical or surgical treatment without the use of stored allogenic blood or primary blood components.
In Marlow’s case, doctors collected the blood she lost during surgery, filtered it and then re-infused it into her body.
Marlow said she had researched bloodless surgery beforehand and was told all the risks by her doctors. She said her daughter had a blood transfusion at the age of 21 and almost died.
“After witnessing that, I decided then I would never get a blood transfusion using donated blood because you never know,” Marlow said. “It’s too much of a risk – not knowing what’s in everyone’s blood. You can’t screen it for everything.”
Marlow said she sat down with her doctor and had an in-depth talk about her surgery before it happened.
“I asked Dr. Stroud if he was confident in his ability to do this,” she said. “He told me he was and I asked him if he was willing to go into this surgery with no backup blood. He assured me he’d performed this procedure many times on other Jehovah’s Witnesses patients at other hospitals.”
Marlow said she had to make a decision of being transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital to have her surgery or stay at CFMCH. After much prayer, she chose the latter.
“It would have put a hardship on my family to have this done downtown,” she said. “By me being able to stay here, it was a whole lot easier. A lot of people don’t have the money to go to St. Joseph’s or other hospitals downtown. I had the care and support from my family and friends right here.”
Marlow credited all her doctors who helped her during surgery.
Since her open heart surgery, Marlow has had other health issues, including surgery on her left leg. She still maintains a positive outlook.
“I try to keep my spirits up no matter how bad I hurt,” she said. “I have this fight and desire to keep fighting because I have a purpose. My goal and purpose is to see my family happy together. That’s what I fight for. I’ve fought all these years and I want to see it through until the end.”
For more information about blood management at CFMCH, visit www.CyFairHospital.com/BloodManagement or call 281-897-3485.
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