So we had a bit of excitement today at the hospital. It turns out that the biopsy wasn't simply a biopsy. I was not aware that they were going to pull the old pacemaker wires, as well. I can’t imagine Patrick was not informed. It's more likely that he just forgot to tell me.
The procedures themselves went off without a hitch. The biopsy went well and the pacemaker wires came out. But after the procedure Patrick experienced some discomfort that eventually showed itself as blood coming out his last chest tube and collecting in the collection box.
So Patrick called me and told me he was bleeding, and said they were bringing him back. I had no idea what that meant and had no time to ask him.
It wasn't long before the transplant surgeon called and told me Patrick had lost a significant amount of blood. He was given a transfusion while being wheeled to the OR along with other fluids, because his blood pressure was dropping.
The nurse on staff when Patrick was admitted to the CCU tonight told me that the procedure notes read that the incision the surgeon made was below his transplant incision, about two inches in length. They opened his chest, drained the blood and clots they found, and then closed him again without finding any obvious cause or remaining bleed in the cavity. They placed a second chest tube to keep things moving and to keep an eye on the situation.
I visited Patrick tonight and had a bit of a cry. Seeing him intubated when I wasn't planning on seeing him that way was rough. He's back to being puffy with the extra fluids. His forearms are massive. The machine was controlling his breathing with tubes coming out of his mouth. I could see his body shake with every beat of Andrew's heart.
I'm looking into extending our trip back out to this weekend. It's just a few days, but it feels like all six of us could use them. I need to be where Patrick is, the kids need to be with me, and Patrick needs me with him.
I'll update again tomorrow after I've seen him! Thank you for the prayers and positive thoughts.
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