A woman in Anhui province saved nearly 10,000 yuan ($1,639) by having her own blood fed back into her veins in an operation, Jianghuai Morning News reported.

About a week ago, Cao, a native of Huainan, was taken to a hospital affiliated with Anhui Medical University.

Around 20 years ago, Cao’s chest felt tight and she could not engage in physical activities. But due to her economic plight, she could not undergo an operation.

Doctors discovered Cao suffered from a serious rheumatic heart disease. About 90 percent of her chest was occupied by her heart, which pressed her lungs, bronchus branches and esophagus.

The operation was complicated, and the hospital had to prepare a lot of blood in advance.

According to Shi Hu, the chief doctor, Cao lost a lot of blood and medics collected more than 1,000 ml of her red blood cells during the operation. Before the operation, medics had extracted platelets and plasma from Cao. They fed them back into Cao’s veins, which saved her money and prevented her from contracting diseases caused by blood transfusions.