Recovery time for giving blood

  My 64 year old mother is scheduled to have hip replacement surgery on May 20th, and it was recommended that she give 2 pints of autologous blood for the surgery.  After giving her first pint 5 days ago, she felt a little tired that evening but the next day she noticed shortness of breath, somewhat elevated pulse (~90; normally 75), and a general feeling of "uneasiness" (anxiety?). She attributed the symptoms to having given blood, but now - 5 days later - she is still feeling the same symptoms.  Is this normal?  Is it because of her age, or perhaps because she is a 50 year ~pack/day smoker?  Furthermore, she is scheduled to give another pint of blood in 3 days.  I would greatly appreciate any information or suggestions you have regarding this topic.    
  Thank you,
  D. Lawrence

[CCF Cardio MD - MTR]

Dear D. Lawrence, thank you for your question.  Autologous blood donation
is a common practice for patients undergoing elective surgery like a
hip replacement.  Assuming your mother's blood counts were normal before
she donated a unit of blood, it would be hard to attribute her symptoms to
the donation of blood.  You mention that she's a long-term smoker and normally
smokers have higher than normal blood counts to carry oxygen more efficiently
since smoking interferes with oxygen exchang in the lungs.  Conceivably,
she could have been so dependent on her baseline blood counts for oxygen
transport that she would get short of breath after donating one unit of
blood, but that would be unusual.  Most people who donate blood feel fine
afterwards and can resume normal activities the next day.  I recommend that
you mention her symptoms to her physician before she donates the second unit
of blood and ask that she have a blood count drawn.  I was unable to find
any incidence percentages for this problem for you since it rarely occurs.
I hope you find this information useful.
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