I am home- It has been a long week

Well I finally made it home on Saturday night. I guess Murphy's Law is just too true- What can go wrong did!!!! I ended up with a TAH because my uterus was totally cemented to my rectum and pelvic floor. The surgery ended up being almost 5 hours and I lost alot of blood. When I came out of surgery my Hemoglobin was 6.3!! The doc decided to give me blood and after the first unit I was okay, but halfway through the second unit I had a real bad reaction. I ended up in the ICU with a blood pressure of 74/36, a pulse of 220, and a pulse ox of 82% on 10liters of Oxygen!!! They did a spiral CT and a chest X-rayand they said that half of my right lung and the lower lobe was "affected". I guess that the alveoli(little air sacs in the lungs) are stuck together and will take a while to get back to normal. They don't know exactly what went wrong but they are checking into it. I ended up back in the ER on Monday bacause I was vomiting all day. They gave me some Phenegren suppositories and now I am feeling much better. Ladies, I thought my short life was over when I had that reaction- Please don't take life for granted. I guess that they just didn't expect a young, healthy person like me to have these problems but I did. For those of you LIW, Please just your blood when they hang it and make sure you have someone in there with you, if you can, at all times. I was pretty out of it for most of the time there but thank God my husband was there. I am only 29 years old and I feel like I am 60!! I still get very short of breath and have some trouble urinating but overall feel better. I don't mean for this to scare anyone but PLEASE be an active participant in your health. Ask questions and make sure you get the answers you need.

Sorry this is so long- I will go be a good princess and rest now-Talk to you all soon!!!

Hello
I am glad you are feeling better. I know how you feel. I had a 3 unit blood transfusion 1 week before surgery. My blood count was 5.5 and I wouldn't survive surgery. I was sitting in a recliner reading my book, as the blood was being given. All of a sudden I felt like I was suffocating and my arms were beet red. Then the chest pains and kidney spasms, leg pains and muscle spasms hit all over my body. I truly thought I was leaving this earth. I pushed the call light and the nurses came running. They immediately turned off the blood and called 911. My BP was extremely low like yours. I have never been so scared in my life. I ended up in a life squad just to be transported next door to the ER, where I stayed for 9 hours. They rechecked the blood and found nothing wrong with it. I had to be pre treated with benedryl and a steroid before I could get the blood. I wished I would of had my family with me when this happened.

A week later before surgery my count was 9.7, but dropped to 6.3 after surgery. They didn't give me blood because of my reaction I guess. I stayed on high dose of iron for the next 4 weeks, but then got a impacted bowel from it. No win situation!!

The time from the transfusion until I was released from the castle seem to last a eternity. I only stayed 2 nights.

take care
Peggy

Hi sweetie,
Bless your heart! What an experience! My hemo was 8 after a 3 week very heavy period and I had iron therapy for 4 months pre-op before it got near normal. The shortness of breath was the main symptom I had along with weakness. I almost had to have a transfusion, and after reading this, I'm glad I didn't! Take care of yourself and let your body heal. God bless.

Wow - you had a rough time. Extra diamonds for your princess crown. You take care and do all the doctor says.

Thank you ladies so much- I just want people to remember that "bad" things can happen and just to be aware of what is going on with you and your healthcare. Bless you all so much- I love this site and am so glad I found it-

Sending a special your way. Goodness you have been through a lot. The most important thing now is to take care of yourself.
I'll be thinking of you!

	Quote:
Originally posted by mtdewpeg I pushed the call light and the nurses came running.

...and Geniann suggested to have someone in there with you when receiving blood.

You d*mn skippy! A nurse IS SUPPOSED TO STAY IN THERE WITH YOU!!!!!! OMG! What is their hospital protocols?

If any of you have got to receive a blood transfusion in the future, DEMAND a nurse stay in there with you! Please!

You two (geni & mtdew) didn't have a nurse that stayed with you after they started the transfusion?!?!?!?

OMG....I could just go on and on!!!! Where's a soapbox? LOL

Geniann,
I do hope you recover well. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Take good Care Donna