My husband had open heart surgery on 03/08. When we came home the incision on his lower thigh developed a blood clot. He was rehospitalized on 04/03 for irregular heartbeat and to tend to the leg. He fell in the hospital and opened the leg up further.

He was discharged on 04/08. We now have the Visiting Nurses coming every day. However, he still has quite a bit of bleeding from the incision. The VNA called the surgeon's office last Monday and they referred us to the Emergency Room. We went and the only thing they did was draw blood for the Coumadin level. The Doctor refused to look at the wound because he said it wasn't bleeding through. He'll have one good day where the bleeding is less, then it bleeds more again.

He has an appointment on Tuesday morning with the surgeon.

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm concerned because he is now anemic and is being treated for that.

Is there alot of swelling in his leg? If so you need to get the swelling under control as this will help to control the bleeding and allow the wound to heal. Ask his doc if he needs to wear compression stockings. If the wound doesn't respond --ask if you can be referred to a wound clinic. The wound clinic and VNA can work together to coordinate care if necessary.

He still has some swelling but it is down quite a bit. Most of it is in his foot/ankle. The bleeding is in his thigh. He does wear the TED hose - usually about 12 hours a day.

Upper thigh is a hard area to keep a dressing on. It might help if they could wrap the thigh with an ace wrap after doing wound care but it might tend to slip.

We have what I called "turkey netting" to hold the padding in place. It's wonderful stuff. Before he went back into the hospital his poor leg was raw from the tape I had to use.

The last 24 hours have been good. The bandages are light pink instead of bright red. I'm hoping that we have turned the corner. Will be glad to see the surgeon on Tuesday!