The mother of all nose bleeds

Remember that bleeding episode I blogged about on Tuesday? Well...

Yesterday (Friday), he had a nose bleed around 6:30pm that lasted until 7:00am this morning (Saturday). And not just your regular, garden-variety nose bleed, this one was the mother of all nose bleeds. Our night nurse, Mary, sure earned her salary last night with us, I think she was helping Dan with something at least every hour and sometimes several times an hour. She packed his nose with what she called a "nose sling" - a 2x2 gauze pad rolled up in each nostril, then a thick strip of gauze covering his nostrils from cheek to cheek and taped firmly on his face. She replaced this several times in the night along with applying an ice bag on Dan's face, and when she wasn't doing this she was helping Dan clear his throat and lungs from the blood draining down his throat. And as if this wasn't enough, he had bleeding episodes from the other end about every hour from midnight till 7:30am. Sorry for being so graphic, this is probably more info than you wanted to know! I don't stay with Dan overnight anymore, but I did last night.

This morning, the ENT (ears, nose & throat) doctor checked Dan and determined he needed posterior nasal packing, a painful procedure but it stopped the bleeding. The packing remains in for about 5 days, and praise God for pain meds to endure this. Dan also needed another transfusion, 2 units, due to losing all that blood. The doctors are monitoring the blood in the stool, thinking it is from the blood that drained into his stomach or possibly internal hemmoroids.

The interesting thing is during all these adventures, Dan was more mentally clear and has continued to be. Go figure. Despite the low blood count, Dan's other labs are excellent and his liver and other organs continue to work well, Dan continues to gain physical strength as well.

Prayer request: Dan will be re-evaluated for entering rehab this Monday and we pray this goofy bleeding episode won't keep him out of the program. Dan is getting discouraged that he hasn't "been allowed" to enter rehab, though the PTs take him to the rehab gym for a little exercise, but we want him to move to those rooms and be in the entire program. There is an opening now and it would be fabulous if Dan could get it, but he needs approval from the head of Rehab. We'd appreciate your prayers for this. Thanks!

Debbie and Dan