After a few weeks of a somewhat regular life, we were thrust back into the medical system this past weekend. Callum's ostomy stoma started bleeding Saturday night so we headed to the ER. They managed to stop the bleeding and used some surgiseal to try and seal the source of the bleeding. Surgiseal is the stuff they use during surgery to stop "bleeders" and it is made of material that dissolves and is absorbed into the body. It seemed to work and he had a pretty good day Sunday.
As were getting ready for bed Sunday night he started bleeding again. In less than 5 minutes there was over 1-2 cups of blood but Callum did get some pressure on it to hold off the bleeding. I called the ambulance as the blood loss was significant in such a short time. He lost nearly 3 cups Sat. night and this bleed was also heavy. We were at the hospital until 4 am. The problem was a floppy blood vessel, an artery, that kept bleeding. The doctor tried to cauterize the blood vessel but couldn't stop the bleeding long enough to do it. So, he stitched, and he stitched, and they soaked up blood, and he stitched, and they soaked up blood, and he stitched....well, you get the idea! If this didn't work and he started bleeding again he would be heading into the OR to fix it once and for all.
With the amount of blood loss he experienced he did have his hemoglobin checked Monday. He was down to 73 (normal is 135 - 180). Transfusions are generally recommended when the hemoglobin is below 80, so he was scheduled for 2 units of blood on Tuesday and 2 more units on Wednesday. The transfusions were quite uneventful - just 6 hours a day at the hospital.
His blood was checked today and the hemoglobin was up to 108, which it quite acceptable. The doc says we will go by the symptoms, and if he is tired over the weekend then he might have another transfusion next week. His platelets were quite low (53, normal is 150 - 400) which is likely from having such a large amount of blood in the transfusions. He will have his blood tested Monday or Tuesday next week. We are sure he will be back to normal by then!
It has been quite a week with being at the hospital 6 days in a row, 2 of them late at night. We are both quite tired from those late nights and early mornings - the transfusions started at 8 am. It was a scary sight to see the blood loss. While we have had a good outcome, it is a serious thing to go through. We haven't heard what might have caused a floppy blood vessel - I think it just happens. The doctor likened it to a hemmorhoid. It appears to have little connection to the cancer, although I think the blood vessels do weaken both from chemotherapy and from the cancer itself. So perhaps there is some relationship, who knows. And it doesn't matter. We just need to make sure it doesn't happen again.
We will spend the next couple of days resting up from the busyness of the last week. It's been quite a while since we have had that much excitement! In the past I seem to remember having a lot more fun when Callum and I were out all night!
I see many of you have been checking the blog, and I do apologize for not writing sooner. My energy levels and concentration ebb and flow these days, and sometimes I just don't get to writing.
Thank you for your concern and dedication to checking the blog - much appreciated!!!
"Just for today, no matter where I am going, or what I am doing, or who I am doing it with, it is my intention to focus on the positive." Lucy MacDonald
TTFN
Lorna
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