Here's a room where we can talk about some of the major issues and concerns I hear from patients nearly everyday. As this room develops, there will also be a submission form (totally private and confidential, of course) whereby you can mail me your own personal questions directly to my email, and I will reply.

Q: Whenever my husband goes into the hospital they take 6 or 7 tubes of blood from him each day, isn't this dangerous?

A: Not to worry! While six or seven vials of blood may seem quite a bit, the total volume of blood taken is just a bit more than an ounce! If the blood is taken in the morning (fasting), his body will replace that small quantity (about45 ml) well before lunchtime! When we donate blood, we donate substantially more (500 ml)---and rarely is there even the slightest problem.