My hemoglobin is 9 my doctor says it needs to be between 12-15 for him to clear me for surgery. How long does it take to get my iron up?

It can take a while. I was anemic a while back, and it took months for me.

Depends on why you're anemic. It could be a B12 deficiency, iron deficiency or something else. You should see your regular doctor to try to figure out what's causing it. It could be something as simple as needing B12 to something a lot more serious (NOT trying to scare you...just trying to say you need to follow-up!).

I am 5 months out and I just found out I was anemic a few weeks ago. I dug out my cast iron skillet and saucepan. I have been cooking in them as much as I can. Tomato really leashes the iron out of the pan. I found out all this a few years back when my husband had cancer and I did a lot of research about cooking for people going thru chemo. The drugs they gave him did not bring his iron levels up but when I cooked like this it helped. I hope it helps me also. I will let everyone know when I have my next blood test to see if it has helped.