son lost 4 to 5 pints of blood :(

leftymom · 06-27-2008, 06:46 PM

My 20 year old son went in for a routine tonsillectomy on 6-18. He was given strong liquid codeine for the pain. 3 days went by and I called the office questioning his degree of pain and was told this was normal. 3 days later I called the office in the morning because he was in such severe pain. The medical assistant called back and and said the doctor could prescribe a steroid or percocet. I chose percocet. The office did not ask to see him. Later that same day at 4:50 he started feeling blood in his mouth. At 4:53 I called the office, and the exchange picked up. The doctor on call called me back. His first question was, ""when did this start?" I said at 4:50. He said, if you would have called before 5 you would have reached your OWN surgeon. I said that I did but the exchange was already answering. He said, no food tonight, only popsicles and ice chips, the wound is trying to scab. By 6:45 after 7 or 8 popsicles, which was masking the blood, I called the doctor back and left another exchange message, and my son ran in the bathroom, and projectile vomited 2 to 3 cups of blood in the bathroom. The doctor called back after I called the exchange twice, and said go to the hospital NOW. By the time we arrived 5 to 7 minutes later, My son's stomach was full of blood, and vomited more cups of blood in the ER, and the operating room. He was in surgery within 10 minutes of arriving at the ER to have his previous tonisillectomy site re cauterized. He had his first surgery with a hemoglobin of 16, and left the hospital after the 2nd surgery 6 days later with an 11 hemoglobin. I wish the doctor would have seen him when I called in for the severe pain. Obviously there was a problem, and I feel like I was treated terribly, and ignored. Does anyone know how long it takes a healthy strong 20 year old male to increase his blood count? does anyone feel this was malpractice by ignoring our phone calls for help?

janewhite1 · 06-28-2008, 01:04 AM

Now that he's been treated, he'll probably be fine. It might be several weeks before his iron count comes back up all the way, but the worst effects of blood loss pass very quickly, especially with transfusions.

Were they neglectful? That's another question entirely. I don't know.

grkg1970, almost all surgical patients receive narcotics afterward.

leftymom · 06-28-2008, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grkg1970

wow,what a mess. I would have never given my chil opiates for pain in the first place. Too powerful even in child dosages. Dr offices are exempt from not returning your call because of caseload they have. If you were worried you should have taken child to ER in a court of law they would say you wer the neglectful one.

you are correct. I should have by passed his medical assistant and went directly in to the office and insisted on being seen. He is now on his 4th night since his second surgery and feels much better than the first surgery which was 5 days prior to the second surgery. I believe he was in pain because the clot was trying to burst, which it did. Not sure if an office visit would have prevented this happening. He was given no blood transfusion and getting his rosey color back.

leftymom · 06-28-2008, 04:55 AM

another post is probably correct that I am the one who should have just taken him to the doctor to prove the pain in person. I have no proof the initial surgery was done incorrectly. What happened with the bleeding was the clot that was forming at the site ruptured, but I think it was boiling to burst almost from the first day, but proving that is a different story. thank you for the support.

feelbad · 06-28-2008, 11:36 AM

This is in NO way YOUR fault hon you are NOT a doctor for gods sake,just a mom trying to take care of your son after a surgery. how in gods name were you just supposed to know this kind of thing was even POSSIBLE to have happen. i would not have seen this coming eirther and i have had to have six surgeries and a son who went thur a liver transplant. its just one of those post op complications that can occur after any surgery is done. you just wont know how any post op healing process will go til you get there,so this was not something YOU could or even should have seen or prevented. it was just a complication. this is just not the norm,thats all. they could have not cauterized enough or pressure could have built up in that vessel,who knows?

i do think the other poster missed the fact that this IS a 20 year old? and jane is right,every patient,who you don;t want to see actually suffer,will in most cases,recieve some kind of narcotric,even children too. a child can suffer as much as an adult with the same surgery.

you did what you could do mom. calling the surgeons office is the right thing in most cases and let them dictate what needs to be done,but who could have expected this? i think they just didn;t quite "get' the severity of the situation right away since this IS a very rare type of occurance with this surgery. in the future,just so you know,anytime you or anyone you know has a surgery and the surgeons office needs to be called and they are not 'getting it',just head for an ER where you can at least be evaluated properly. they will take care of contacting the suregon after that,believe me.

i would just keep getting fluids into him and if possible try and iron suppliment for a week or so just to help build that back up again(you may have to break it up if he cannot swallow it whole). he may get a bit more constipated(the narcotic and the iron will just cause this) for a while but his iron will replenish much faster.

you just could not have seen THAT coming so it is not at all your fault,K? i do know what its like to watch your child vomit up blood tho,just nasty. my son did this when he reached portal hypertension with the liver failure he was in. pretty ugly. so sorry you both had to go thru all this. rest and fluids are about the best thing you can do for him right now. if anything at all pops up,i am sure the surgeons office WILL be a bit more attentive. just remember when having any sirgery,if you are not getting the attention you think you should,head for the local ER,preferably the one where that surgery was done,since they would have all the surgical info there. you DO have an option here.

just so ya know,i have never heard of any surgeon who wants to see a patient within even the first week after any surgery unless there is a very specific reason for it let alone the 48 hour thing. it is not routine to do with most surgeries. it was not up to you to even consider that one either,K? the first post op visit is at the earliest,the one week or two week post op check. it kind of depends upon the surgery. but average is six weeks for the majority.

i do think what happened to your son was really a very rare occurance or they would have responded very differently at the surgeons office when you called,you know what i mean? you did what you were supposed to do in caring for your son,K? at least they fixed him up and things sound okay now? i do hope things get better from here. please let us know. FB