My stay in the hospital, gruesome edition

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JimL

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
1,534
Location
Imlay City, Michigan
Blood is red, but I turned blue, I was nearly dead

Being on coumadin means a constant danger of a bleed—but in six years on coumadin that has never been a problem. I’ve cut myself repeatedly with no trouble at all; most often, I see I’m bleeding here or there and wonder how that happened.
On MLK day, I found out what happens when a serious bleed occurs. I vomited Sunday night because of what I ate, repeatedly, forcefully, and felt poor Monday morning. For reasons I don’t yet understand this let loose Monday afternoon. Within a short time, I couldn’t stand up for long, and then I couldn’t stand up at all. Because of coumadin, I was losing blood rapidly.
Shirley got me to the ER, and I went in riding a wheelchair, because I couldn’t walk; we waited our turn. I was just beginning to feel worse when our turn came, and as the wheelchair entered triage, I slipped out, passed out, turned blue, whatever. That had the benefit of greatly speeding up the care I received. Diagnosis really went pretty quickly.
Treatment was an immediate reduction in INR to 1.1 via Vitamin K shots and blood plasma. The fact that I stopped bleeding was indicated when the hemoglobin numbers remained steady or increased. Although I tried to compromise with the doctors on the INR issue, it was maintained at 1. That was to continue until I had an EGD scope on Friday, which showed a cessation of bleeding, and I could again be anticoagulated.
Friday begins the weekend, and things don’t always happen like they’re supposed to. The doctor who did the scope on Friday told us what he had seen on Monday; in the meantime, other doctors told us what they thought his handwriting meant. The end result was that instead of beginning coumadin again on Friday, I didn’t start it until Sunday evening. The doctor in charge and I had words on Monday morning.
I suggested to the cardiologist that I start with 10mg of coumadin in order to boost the INR quickly; he prescribed 10 for Sunday night, and 10 for Monday night. Tuesday night I asked the nurse where my coumadin was, and she had no prescription for it. The card was called in, and since my INR was only 1.2 (completely natural if coumadin takes three days to take effect and I had only received my first dose two days earlier), he prescribed 15 mg. I gobbled it down. Wednesday I left the hospital; my INR was 1.7, not high enough but rising. The doctor in charge of my release wanted my INR to be 3.5, but I assumed the responsibility for leaving early. He then prescribed that I remain on a dose of 10 mg a day until I got tested. Had I maintained that dosage, I would have achieved an INR of 6 or better.
I wanted to write this up so I can learn from it, and perhaps so someone else can learn from my experience. Being on coumadin means that there is a risk of bleeding; it is a small risk, but it is there. If bleeding should occur, get to the ER quickly; there is not much time. I lost roughly half my blood, but with no permanent damage; a stroke, even a little one, would have left permanent damage.
I’m now on a bland diet for at least three months to get everything thoroughly healed. No caffeine at all, nothing decaffeinated either. No spices of any kind. I miss the coffee; I’ve wanted to get rid of the spices for years.
I lost five pounds in the hospital; since I got out, I'm eating twice as much as normal, with no weight gain, since I'm still replacing blood.
 
You certainly had a terrible time of it. Being on Coumadin doesn't help.

But for some prespective, at Christmastime, my wonderful Son-in-law had a massive bleed from a diverticulitis incident. He never knew he had diverticulitis. He thought it was hemmorhoids, so waited a while before going to the hospital. When he got to the hospital, they were going to transfuse him. Before they could order up his blood, he passed out cold, and blue-coded.

He is not on any anticoagulation.

Fortunately, he was transfused and everything turned out OK.

GI tract bleeding is very serious for many. Coumadin just adds to the problem, but probably wasn't the actual cause of the problem.

I am so glad you are better, and things turned out OK.

BTW, what was your INR when you first got to the ER?
 
Jim it takes me back to April 05 when I had my stomach bleed. Didn't know it was bleeding until I ended up in the ICU. I knew something was very wrong with the way I felt and vision really took a pounding. I was 3.2 in the ER INR wise.

I had to have 3 pints of blood, so I imagine you were pretty well drained. Lets try to not do these things again if we can help it.
 
Thanks, Nancy, for the perspective. Curiously, I had in mind that I should be sure to take my coumadin before anything else. I managed to get that taken, even though I had already figured out that I was bleeding internally. It was only after I was in the ER that it dawned on me that it wasn't the smartest thing to take the coumadin if I was bleeding. My INR in the ER was normal, although I don't remember the exact number; probably around 3.
 
WOW, Jim.....what a scary story. I'm so glad you're back home, doing better and have had no problems since. Whew!!! Do they have any idea what caused the bleed. Do you think it was from the force of the vomiting episode?

Evelyn
 
Jim - that's quite enough attention getting for now. Please think of something more fun the next time - like streaking at the Super Bowl. Seriously - I'm so glad you are okay. Thanks for your post and your thoughts You are an example of what we mean when we talk about those that are on the wrong side of the good statistics. 3% risk of anything is low, but when you are that 3% it doesn't make you feel any better to know that the statistics are favorable.

Rachel - I see what your thought process is on the high end vs lower end, but the reality is a 2.5 or a 3.5 wouldn't have made much of a difference in the type of occurrence that Jim had. If you have a hole in your belly, a second or two of clotting time isn't going to matter much. That was also demonstrated in Nancy's story.

Stay healthy Jim! And don't eat whatever that was again!
 
Jim, you surely grabbed the attention of all of us when we heard and we checked on you often. That was a scary time for you and your family - us, too. You know how we are when one of us is in danger. Take care of yourself and eat enough to build that blood back up. Blessins..........
 
Glad to see you posting, Jim and really glad that you are home and on the mend.
 
Glad everything worked out in the end and you're on the mend!

I've had a scary bleed incident as well (ovarian cyst burst. Ended up needing 2 units of plasma and 4 units of whole blood). However, I'm still of the opinion that I'd rather be on the high end of my range than the low end (I was 2.8 when I had my bleed issues, so that really wasn't the factor). Jim is right. I have no permanent damage from my bleed. But if I'd had a stroke it would be a different matter altogether.

Of course, I'd rather have neither happen. ;)
 
Jim, I'm so glad your home and doing better. Kinda sucks being on a bland diet - I feel for you.

But I have one......maybe dumb question. How do you know when you have a bleed......of any kind?
 
What a frightening situation! Glad you're doing better and hoping it doesn't happen again; take care.
 
Really gruesome

Really gruesome

In the "too much information" category, you know you have an internal bleed when (1) you have dark stools at home, or (2) when you throw up a basin full of blood in the ER.
 
Jim
Glad you are home. I have had 4 hospitalized bleeds and each one was scarier than the other. I can imagine you are one weak kitten right now.THe notation of black stools is still a reminder folks need to hear. I would add nosebleeds lasting longer than an hour (although I was told 20 minutes) need to be addressed as do headaches that are the worse headache you could ever imagine. Take care and build those cells back up
Kathleen
 
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