Sorry but i need to rant to get my worry and frustrations out. My mom had to have surgery on her hand yesterday. She had what they call "trigger thumb", which is basically the tendon gets stuck in one position and wont release on its own. She said that isnt uncommon and that it was a pretty simple procedure. So I worry a bit but try not to worry to much. My mom and I have a bleeding disorder called von willebrands, which is basically were our blood doesnt clot like a normal persons does (we bleed longer than normal). Anyways, she has her DDAVP (the meds that make our blood clot) so I try my best not to worry.

Her surgery was at 9 am yesterday, after i get home from work and feed the baby lunch i give her a call to see how she is (this is around 2pm). She says she is tired but the numbing stuff is still working so she isnt in a lot of pain, i ask how the bleeding is and she says that it is starting to bleed through the bandage some, but not bad. Okay fine, love ya mama get some rest ill call in a bit and check on you. So at 4pm I get a call from my mom, she says she had to go back to the dr because it ended up bleeding through her bandage, a towel, and onto her pillow! I start freaking out a bit.. did you remember your meds mom? what did the dr do? etc? yes she remembered her meds, the dr just rewrapped it and put a pressure bandage on it and sent her back home. I wasnt very happy to hear that was all that was done, but i'm 1,000 miles away what can i do?

So i call back a couple hours later and talk to my dad, because mom had taken pain meds, and he said she is doing alright its still bleeding but doesnt seem as bad. Fine, call back a few hours later and talk to mom.. she says she is doing fine, its still bleeding some but seems to have slowed down though it has bled through the inner layers of her bandage it hadnt gone through the outer layer. So I remind her to make sure she takes her meds and check it several times throughout the night and maybe she should go to the ER just to get it checked etc.etc. She says its fine and that she will and that she will call me if anything happens. So I finish baking my cakes and try not to worry and go to bed.

This morning I wake up at 9:30 and call my mom, well my uncle picked up the phone and said that my aunt took her to the hospital at 7am. So I freak and call my moms cell and my aunt answers. Mom says she woke up at 5:30am and everything seemed fine then by 6:30am it wasnt. She bled through all 9 layers of her bandage and through two pillows in an hour!! She was going to wait for the drs office to open up but my dad told her to wake up my aunt and go to the hospital. The ER gave her a DDAVP IV and took the bandages off so it could bleed freely and they could see how much it was bleeding and they did some bloodwork. (mind you all of this bleeding is coming through the stitches). She said she thinks maybe she told the Dr to low of a dose of the DDAVP (that she thought that was it but couldnt remember) and that is what lead to the bleeding.

She called just a few minutes ago and said the ER released her and is sending her back to the Dr who did the surgery. That it has started to clot but hadnt completely and was still bleeding. They said she didnt need a transfusion or anything because her numbers were 38 and she is okay as long as they are above 29. The ER wouldnt do anything else with her hand because of the surgery. So now she is on the way over to the Dr.

I am so frustrated and upset over the whole thing. I feel like this could have been prevented. I mean if the Dr had never worked with a von willebrands patient before shouldnt he have checked on the dosage and stuff?? what dr takes a patients "i think but dont really remember" as basis for writing a prescription?!? if her surgery was at 9 am and she went back in at 3pm for bleeding through the bandage, a dang towel, and onto a pillow shouldnt that have sent off red flags?

Im sorry this is so long and jumbled. This whole thing is really upsetting me, its been over 24 hours and she is still bleeding (not as bad, thank goodness). Maybe its just me being overly sensitive because its my mom and the same bleeding disorder i have, but I think this whole thing was completely preventable. Anyways, thanks for listening to me rant. I will update to let you all know how she is doing.

Sorry about your mom's troubles. I hope she is doing better now. I had the same surgery for trigger thumb after about one month of having corporal tunnel surgery. I have a little trouble with bleeding, but not nearly as much as you and your mom have. I do not have medicine to take for it, just slower at clotting than the average person. Hope she recoops fast. There was very little pain after surgery for me and I never regretted either surgeries. {{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}

I'm so sorry you are having to go through this. I can't imagine the agony of being that fair away and being totally helpless.

Just think positive and make sure your mom stays on top of the incision, bleeding and the doctor.

I wish your mom speedy healing.

Thanks so much for the words of support. Mom went to the Dr and they took off the bandage, ripping the clot off and caused it to start bleeding again. They rebandaged it yet again, this time with lots of nylon gauze, regular gauze, and ace bandage. Then they gave her lots and lots of extra bandages. they said that if she bleeds through to just keep adding more bandage to it. They are thinking that because they keep taking off the bandage when she bleeds through and it keeps ripping off the partial clot that she has. So they are going to leave the bandage on for a few days to see if that helps. Hopefully the wound will clot up and the Dr's theory works (though im not to sure how that will happen, because i think if they remove the bandage in a few days it will start the bleeding again). Thanks again for you alls support.

Sorry to hear about your mom but hopefully now they have it under control. You know the doctors are only human not that I'm taking up for them but they make mistakes too. I hope she gets better and I'll pray for you both.

wow, I can't imagine what you're going through right now!! I will also keep your mom and your whole family in my prayers as well. Don't they make bandages that don't stick??
Also I completely agree with you that the Dr. should NEVER take the patients word for how much meds they need, I mean that's HIS job, not your mom's!!

Hope everything turns out!

Talked to my mom when I got home from work today. She says she is doing much better, it hasnt bled through again! My dad made her a mock sling from a towel and safety pin, so now she doesnt even attempt to use that arm and it helps keep her hand elevated. I'm still annoyed with the doctors, but now that the bleeding seems to have stopped I do realize that they are human and make mistakes. It's just really hard to remember that when I'm 1,000 miles away and cant be there to boss everyone around and take control of the situation. lol Which is what I have always done since I was a kid and there was something like this was going on. I think another reason I freaked so much was that niether my aunt or sister knew the name of my moms blood clotting meds. Doesnt seem like that big of a deal really, but if anything worse would have happened then who would be able to tell the doctors the kind of meds in case they needed to stop the bleeding ASAP? 75% of doctors have never dealt with a vWD patient before. It really just scared the crap out of me to realize that and I dont even know if my own husband would know the answer to that question if something happened to me. However after this ordeal i will be drilling it into everyones heads and making sure they know how important it is. Thanks so much all of you for your support and sweet comments.

I'm glad she's doing better and maybe this happened for a reason. You now can have your husband more informed and maybe your mom can make sure your dad, sister, and aunt are more informed on the meds.

Have they tried liquid skin? it is a topical type of bandange so to speak that can hol together a minor wound. If she has stitches she wont need it to hold the actual wound together but to help the wound to be protected from the removal of the bandage over and over.

I hope it helps some. Lots of love coming your way.

I was wondering the same thing at first, but then I thought maybe they dont use it anymore? I'm not sure. I just got off the phone with mom again, still no new bleeding. She is in a lot of pain still so she was going to take her pain meds and lay down for awhile. She avoided taking it all day up to this point because it makes her feel sick to her stomach. Anyways, thats all the news I have for now. Thanks everyone

Do you have a medic alert bracelet? Maybe they can keep the medication name on file for when they get a call? Another thing I have read of people doing is making up a card with medical information and keeping it in their wallet with their credit cards.

Hope your mom recovers quickly.

Back when I injured my hand it was so bad that they gave me this stuff called an artificial clot. Basically it's some sort of white stuff that they put on open wounds to keep it from bleeding out. They did have to take it off about a week later, but at that time the wound was healing so I didn't need it anymore. They also gave me this yellow wet bandage stuff (sorry not sure what it was) to put on it so when I changed my bandage it wouldn't stick to it. I would have her ask her dr about getting an artificial clot. That way it will stop bleeding and get a chance to heal.

Have you or your mom ever tried quick clot? Here is the link:

http://www.z-medica.com/quikclot/index.asp

It's used by our military, hospitals, a lot of police agencies carry it now, and you can buy it for home use. I bought some to have - just in case - because of the kids..... I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone to keep at home and in the car. They make small packs for nosebleeds and all the way up to severe trauma-type injuries. In fact, they even make it for pets too.

I had never heard of it until my husband was issued it at work. I'm going to get some more to give as gifts to people this year too.

I know you said that it is a condition that you both have, so I'm not quite sure how that affects it, but maybe it could help in the future.

Glad to hear your mom is doing better!

Denise

p.s. nice to meet you...I live just down the road from you near Brandon.

Thanks so much for everyones concern. Mom and I actually went out and bought medical alert necklaces for both of us when I was diagnosed, but over the years we have quit wearing them. ( havent been able to find mine since I moved to florida). I've heard of the quick clot stuff but have never had any experience with it personally (I've heard though that it hurts like heck when put on a wound, is that true?). I'm not sure why her doctors decided to do it the way they did, but I have to tell myself that hopefully they knew what they were doing. Mom is still doing good, no more bleeding, she goes back to the Dr on weds to have the bandages redone. Itsmylife, how far away is Brandon from Hudson? Ive only been here about a year and dont know much about Florida because I was born and raised in Maryland.

Teena Maria, don't be upset because you were worried about your mom and couldn't be there. My DH and I moved back to my hometown in 2001 and in 2002, my mom was diagnosed with cancer (the 2nd time). I went to the doctor with her, I made sure she rested after chemo, I asked the doctor questions about her health and care needs. When my dad or my aunt went, they didn't remember anything, they didn't ask questions. It drove me crazy so I took over taking care of her. Yeah, I have some control issues too but dadgum, if you go with her and least find out the meds she needs and when she is supposed to take them! So, I understand completely how you feel. I'm glad that she's getting better now and I know you are resting easier too.