I'm writing this post from a hospital bed, because, as some of you know, I was admitted to the hospital again on Friday night. I was feeling really good on Friday (maybe a little too good actually), and as I was up and around, I snagged my drain tube on our doorknob. There was no pain associated with the snag, but the clear fluid that had been draining turned quickly to bright red. At about 9:00, blood started gushing out of my drain site (where the drain is stitched into my body). We rushed to the ER and I was admitted a couple of hours later.
Friday night was hands-down the worst night of my life. They had put a pressure dressing on my drain sight, and I bled through it in a matter of hours. I did not sleep more than about 45 minutes total, because of the constant poking and prodding, blood draws, and having to have my drain emptied constantly. I was bleeding 100cc of fluid ever 1 1/2-2 hours. At one point the nurses started talking about blood transfusions, and I had one specific blood draw to get my blood typed and was told to be prepared for the possibility of having to have a transfusion. Very scary. Luckily, my doctor was on-call yesterday, and he came in first thing yesterday morning. He suggested that we wait to see if the bleeding slows on its own, as he would prefer not to do surgery. (FYI, surgery would involve opening the site up to find the bleed and put a suture in the bleeding vein.) But that meant no food or drink all day yesterday. At about 7:00 last night, my hemoglobin were stable enough that they scrapped the surgery idea (at least temporarily) and allowed me to eat dinner. I have never tasted such a delicious meal in my life!
Last night went a lot more smoothly. I was still woken up every few hours, getting blood drawn and my vitals checked. But the bleeding has slowed significantly. Unfortunately, my hemoglobin levels dropped slightly overnight and those levels are holding right around 8 (12 is normal). So the next step is to do a CAT scan to make sure there are no hidden bleeds or clots. There's also a strong possibility that I will need a couple units of blood, as I'm feeling pretty weak and exhausted.
My brother came up from southern CA to be with us yesterday. I feel as if my poor hubbs has to bear the burden of dealing with all of this by himself, so having Cody here is helping immensely.
Thank you all for your continued support. I'll update again when I have more info.
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