Complications
As some of you know, Dad had some complications after his surgery. During his stay at the hospital, they told him he had anemia and gave him between (as near as we can tell) 8-10 units of blood. His left leg where they harvested the vein used in his aortic replacement became swollen to at least three times the size of his other leg. It was red and warm to the touch.
I asked why they were giving him so much blood and they told me because he was anemic. We asked what was wrong with his leg, and Dad complained about the pain in his leg (it was actually greater than his chest pain after a few days). They told him it was healing just fine.
He gained 20 lbs from the day he entered the hospital on the 4th until he was put into a hospital room on the 7th. We asked about the weight gain (because they had pamphlets that said, report weight gain of over 5 lbs a week to your doctor, something is wrong) and they said he was just fat.
We left to come home on 2-14, Valentine's Day. The cardiac surgeon looked at Dad's leg and was "concerned". He put Dad on antibiotics (which they could have done during his stay at the hospital if anyone had really looked at his leg), and we left.
This week, on Thursday, we visited with out GP up here. She was alarmed at his leg and the fact he was starting to bleed through the sutures in that leg. For a bit, he had stopped bleeding, but then it started and there was nothing I could do to stop the bleeding. She made an immediate appointment with a surgeon because they suspected a bad infection and expected that he had an hematoma and would need the leg re-opened and drained.
The surgeon did indeed concur with that and reopened his leg and drained it of blood and (to be very blunt) pus. Dad said it was a terrible smell. Then the surgeon noticed that after he'd gotten all of that out, Dad kept on bleeding. He searched and found that apparently the vein where they had harvested Dad's new aorta had been "nicked" and was bleeding into his leg cavity.
He sutured Dad's "nick". Now, Dad's leg is open. It must be stuffed twice daily with gauze and then covered with a pad and then an athletic bandage. I won't go into the complete details, but it is very unpleasant.
The good news is that Dad seems to be healing, though. They call it "open healing". Sounds gross, but I guess it's the best way to get the infection out.
I called the cardiac surgeon who worked on Dad's heart and his first words were "wow". Then he stated that he didn't believe that the vein had been "nicked".
I can't understand why people who pumped him full of blood because he was anemic couldn't tell that it was just filling up in his leg. Poor Dad. We don't know how long this will last. The doctor originally said it could be a month or more where his leg would be an open wound. Hopefully, it is getting better. At least we think the infection is gone because Dad's color is finally getting better.
He still can't really walk around, and wants to get back to work, but we're not sure when that is going to happen. His chest, however, has seemed to heal fine. And that way, he's doing pretty good. It only hurts when he coughs or laughs a lot.
I asked why they were giving him so much blood and they told me because he was anemic. We asked what was wrong with his leg, and Dad complained about the pain in his leg (it was actually greater than his chest pain after a few days). They told him it was healing just fine.
He gained 20 lbs from the day he entered the hospital on the 4th until he was put into a hospital room on the 7th. We asked about the weight gain (because they had pamphlets that said, report weight gain of over 5 lbs a week to your doctor, something is wrong) and they said he was just fat.
We left to come home on 2-14, Valentine's Day. The cardiac surgeon looked at Dad's leg and was "concerned". He put Dad on antibiotics (which they could have done during his stay at the hospital if anyone had really looked at his leg), and we left.
This week, on Thursday, we visited with out GP up here. She was alarmed at his leg and the fact he was starting to bleed through the sutures in that leg. For a bit, he had stopped bleeding, but then it started and there was nothing I could do to stop the bleeding. She made an immediate appointment with a surgeon because they suspected a bad infection and expected that he had an hematoma and would need the leg re-opened and drained.
The surgeon did indeed concur with that and reopened his leg and drained it of blood and (to be very blunt) pus. Dad said it was a terrible smell. Then the surgeon noticed that after he'd gotten all of that out, Dad kept on bleeding. He searched and found that apparently the vein where they had harvested Dad's new aorta had been "nicked" and was bleeding into his leg cavity.
He sutured Dad's "nick". Now, Dad's leg is open. It must be stuffed twice daily with gauze and then covered with a pad and then an athletic bandage. I won't go into the complete details, but it is very unpleasant.
The good news is that Dad seems to be healing, though. They call it "open healing". Sounds gross, but I guess it's the best way to get the infection out.
I called the cardiac surgeon who worked on Dad's heart and his first words were "wow". Then he stated that he didn't believe that the vein had been "nicked".
I can't understand why people who pumped him full of blood because he was anemic couldn't tell that it was just filling up in his leg. Poor Dad. We don't know how long this will last. The doctor originally said it could be a month or more where his leg would be an open wound. Hopefully, it is getting better. At least we think the infection is gone because Dad's color is finally getting better.
He still can't really walk around, and wants to get back to work, but we're not sure when that is going to happen. His chest, however, has seemed to heal fine. And that way, he's doing pretty good. It only hurts when he coughs or laughs a lot.
posted by Mom Nixon at 22:17
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