My husband took an ambulance ride yesterday

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yesterday morning I woke to one of those situations which you never think about happening - it always happens to someone else, yanno?

A little backstory: my husband had been having a problem with blood in his stool for about a week. Last week his doctor advised him (on two separate days!) to go to the hospital and get his stomach scoped to see where the bleeding was coming from. My hubby had a problem with that, due to some things going on with the kids - and he especially didn’t want to distract/upset them by going to the hospital. I was very, very angry with him on Friday but Saturday he seemed to be feeling better, although he was very pale - his lips were the strangest non-color I believe I’ve ever seen on a person.

Sunday he felt really weak and I was more concerned than ever. He could barely get around in the house and spent the day watching TV.

Yesterday at 5 am he woke me in a panic as he had just passed a great quantity of blood, and instead of it being dark much of it was bright read. I jumped out of the bed, intending to dress and get him to the hospital. Well, just then he fell back on the bed making the most horrible noise - gasping for breath. I had a sickening feeling that, if I tried to drive him to the hospital myself, that he would not be able to breathe long enough for me to get him there.

I had been worrying about this kind of scenario all weekend and calling 911 had been on my mind. I grabbed the phone and called for the ambulance. I knew the ambulance people would have oxygen and other things to stabilize him long enough to get him to the hospital.

The fire truck beat the ambulance to the house, and as soon as the EMTs got a little oxygen in him he began to stabilize. I followed the ambulance to the hospital, where they began to give him blood immediately. I could not believe the blood pressure reading. It was something like 85 over 37! :eek:

So far yesterday they gave him six units of blood. Four to begin with, then last night two more in preparation for a scope this morning.

The reason he couldn’t catch his breath had been because he was so low on blood. The heart and lungs couldn’t get enough oxygen around to the body and had gone into a kind of panic mode. The hospital has done two EKG tests on hubby and the cardiologist is concerned that a lot of stress was put on the heart recently. According to them, it is a little risky for hubby to be sedated today to get the scope done, but decided that the cause of the bleeding must be found because it was ‘also life-threatening’. :eek:

Y’all please send some of those good Doper vibes today as the doctors look for what’s gone wrong this morning. And, when the doctor tells you it’s time to go to the hospital, guys, GO ALREADY.

2

Passing blood is never good. Ever.

Keep us posted on his situation!

3

A friend in college had very similar symptoms to those you describe. He was diagnosed with something called Meckel’s diverticulum.

The loss of blood aside, it was not life threatening.

4

Sending healing thoughts and supporting thoughts his and your way, respectively!

5

I took an ambulance ride once, to take someone who had been having intestinal bleeding for hours. They said, if I hadn’t happened to wake up, hear her, and decided to stick my nose in, she would have died.

I’m glad you were on time and hope your husband will be well soon!

6

I’m so glad you were able to get him to the hospital. Best wishes for his recovery.

7

Healing vibes your way, lots of them.

8

Please come back and let us know as soon as you find out anything.

My husband had a major heart attack four years ago. His right coronary artery was completely blocked. Although I was able to drive him to the nearest ER, he needed to be transported to a cardiac care unit for immediate surgery. I got to ride in the ambulance front seat. It took twelve of the longest minutes of my life.

Good vibes headed your way.

9

Didn’t want to distract or upset the kids by going to the hospital… because an ambulance (or, worse, if you hadn’t made it in time, hearse) ride isn’t distracting or upsetting. :smack:

Best of luck to you both, and wishes for a speedy diagnosis and recovery.

10

Hope things work out for you and hubby.

11

I hope they figure it out and fix it quickly.

Didn’t one of our other posters relate a similar story within the last year or two? Turned out he had a bleeding ulcer, which was quite fixable.

12

Good luck on the outcome. Kids get more upset when daddy dies. Remind him next time he doesn’t get checked out. Try not to be a nervous wreck in the aftermath.

13

I ride the ambulance at least twice a month. If I’m not driving, I’m in back caring for the patient… :wink:

Your hubby was slipping into hypovolemic shock (‘bleeding out’). The blue lips and low BP were the dead giveaways, pardon the pun.

You made the right call getting the ambulance, and it sounds like my colleagues got it right with the immediate care. Good luck and best wishes for all of you.

14

How upsetting! I hope everything works out OK.

15

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Let us know how he does after today’s fun little look-see.

Oh, and when he’s all better?

Smack him upside the head with a blunt instrument for being SO DAMN STUBBORN and SCARING 10 YEARS OFF YOUR LIFE.

16

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and information.

The scope this morning did not identify any places in the stomach which could have caused the bleeding. I guess that means it’s somewhere else in the system. Looks like we may be in for a long period of looking for answers. :frowning:

I have talked to the kids and let them know about the scoping today. Well, actually I had told two of the kids what was going on as it unfolded (the two who live at home).

17

What a nightmare for you. I’m glad he’s under observation now. I hope you get some good answers soon. Hang in there, and keep us updated.

18

I guess it’s a difference in guy mentality. If I had blood coming out my butt that I couldn’t explain by having just pooped a telephone pole, I’d be dragging my wife to the ER myself.

There’s family medical history that keeps me vigilant for things like that.

19

Good heavens! I’m glad you got him to the hospital in time. I hope the medicos figure out what’s wrong soon. I had a friend nearly bleed out recently from an ectopic pregnancy. :eek:

<obligatory public service announcement> If you meet the qualifications, please donate blood.

20

I hope you have health insurance. As I am unable to get health insurance (declined by every insurer in my state), this is one of the things I really worry about as the only thing I have is a credit card to buy the first ticket out of the USA to get medical care.

(Since I have insurance valid everywhere except the USA)

Hope all goes well for you.