Medical Emergency
My partner, Napoleon, had surgery on his eyelid a week ago. He had a polyp removed that was reoccurring; this was his third surgery, and the first one to involve stitches. I have the feeling they really got the little puppy this time. This morning, 10-ish, he went back in to have the stitches removed. There was a little seepage, but nothing major. Now, it's important to keep in mind that Nap is a hemophiliac, a bleeder. The stitches stayed in two days longer than "usual", and once removed, everything seemed quite stable. Jump ahead to 3pm. Nap has spent the day at work, and has gotten into his car to head home, when he feels something moist on his cheek. He assumes his eye is simply weeping, so he digs out his handkerchief, daubs at the corner of his eye, and it comes back bloody. In order to keep the hanky at his eye, he has to remove his glasses, so now he can't see to enter the access code to get back into the building. He walks up to the parking ramp attendant, who takes one look at him, holding a bloody handkerchief to his face, his shirt now spotted with blood, and starts screaming, assuming he's been attacked. He assures her he has not been, and directs her to call an ambulance, and he's taken to an Emergency Room. The ER staff have a hard time believing Nap's operation was a week ago, and that he didn't accidently poke himself in the face, prompting the current incident. They eventually contact the surgeon who worked on Nap's eyelid and verify the date of the surgery, and that morning's visit to remove the stitches.
Meanwhile, I'm ignorant of all this drama. I got home shortly after 5pm, and took a bike ride around the lake a half-hour later. I knew Nap was getting his stitches out today, but I assumed it was taking place after work, so I wasn't surprised that he hadn't gotten home yet. However, when I got back home at 6:30, and his car STILL wasn't in the garage, I had a hunch SOMETHING hadn't gone well. There was a message from Nap on the answering machine, left some 10 minutes after I had left, saying he was in the Emergency Room, and that his eye was bleeding. I called him on his cell phone. Even after some two hours, they hadn't been able to completely stop the bleeding. I was told to sit tight; he'd call back with an update.
I was able to pick him up shortly after 8:30. I was surprised by what I did and didn't see. I saw that there was blood all over the front of his shirt, his T-shirt and his slacks; what I didn't see was a big, honking bandage over his eye. There was no bandage at all on his face. There was a band-aid on his hand, where they'd administered the IV, but that was it. The nurse gave us a plastic bag for his shirt, and gave him a disposable "scrub" shirt to wear home (I still don't know whether the blood will wash out, but I'll give it a go). They had given him an IV to replace some of the fluids he had lost (There was a wastebasket filled with gauze squares they had gone through trying to "Stem the tide", as it were). Nap seemed a tad rattled, but overall, still quite in control of it all; he directed me to drive him back to his office's parking ramp where he picked up his car, and drove himself home.
He'll be going back tomorrow to have himself looked at. From what he told me, no one really knows why he started bleeding, or exactly what the source was. The obvious culprit is one of the sutures, but why the five hour delay? He has no history of spontaneous hemorraging, and it isn't a symptom of his type of hemophillia.
I resisted the urge to hover, but I kept checking him out of the corner of my eye. Prior to going to bed, he daubed at his eye, claiming that it felt just like it did when it started bleeding, but so far, we're good.
I must admit, I'm a bit anxious, but I'm using Nap as a barometer for how concerned I should be. He's been quiet, and obviously a bit uncomfortable. This experience has no doubt rattled him, but he's now sleeping, and I'm hopeful the night will be completely uneventful.
I'll keep you posted. Keep a good thought.
Meanwhile, I'm ignorant of all this drama. I got home shortly after 5pm, and took a bike ride around the lake a half-hour later. I knew Nap was getting his stitches out today, but I assumed it was taking place after work, so I wasn't surprised that he hadn't gotten home yet. However, when I got back home at 6:30, and his car STILL wasn't in the garage, I had a hunch SOMETHING hadn't gone well. There was a message from Nap on the answering machine, left some 10 minutes after I had left, saying he was in the Emergency Room, and that his eye was bleeding. I called him on his cell phone. Even after some two hours, they hadn't been able to completely stop the bleeding. I was told to sit tight; he'd call back with an update.
I was able to pick him up shortly after 8:30. I was surprised by what I did and didn't see. I saw that there was blood all over the front of his shirt, his T-shirt and his slacks; what I didn't see was a big, honking bandage over his eye. There was no bandage at all on his face. There was a band-aid on his hand, where they'd administered the IV, but that was it. The nurse gave us a plastic bag for his shirt, and gave him a disposable "scrub" shirt to wear home (I still don't know whether the blood will wash out, but I'll give it a go). They had given him an IV to replace some of the fluids he had lost (There was a wastebasket filled with gauze squares they had gone through trying to "Stem the tide", as it were). Nap seemed a tad rattled, but overall, still quite in control of it all; he directed me to drive him back to his office's parking ramp where he picked up his car, and drove himself home.
He'll be going back tomorrow to have himself looked at. From what he told me, no one really knows why he started bleeding, or exactly what the source was. The obvious culprit is one of the sutures, but why the five hour delay? He has no history of spontaneous hemorraging, and it isn't a symptom of his type of hemophillia.
I resisted the urge to hover, but I kept checking him out of the corner of my eye. Prior to going to bed, he daubed at his eye, claiming that it felt just like it did when it started bleeding, but so far, we're good.
I must admit, I'm a bit anxious, but I'm using Nap as a barometer for how concerned I should be. He's been quiet, and obviously a bit uncomfortable. This experience has no doubt rattled him, but he's now sleeping, and I'm hopeful the night will be completely uneventful.
I'll keep you posted. Keep a good thought.