Blood transfusion day

Friends/family,

Friday night was quite a long night. Unfortunately Brent did not sleep very well and was up about every hour in pain and discomfort. I wake up every time he wakes up as well, so we were a bit exhausted when we woke up on Saturday. He is trying to wean himself off of the stronger pain medications, but it's not working very well, so he still took the stronger meds all day today.

Today was also quite a busy and tiring Saturday! After Brent's early morning lab draw, the nurse came in and informed Brent his red blood cell (RBC) count (hemoglobin and hematocrit) was low and that the doctor wanted to do a whole bunch of tests to see where he was bleeding internally. This was a little concerning to us because we really wanted to avoid him having a blood transfusion - and we were really praying for NO complications and a quick recovery. Unfortunately, his RBC count was too low and he did end up needing 2 units of blood. :( So for 6 hours of the day, Brent was hooked up to an IV having a blood transfusion. I was scared and upset this morning when the doctor came in and said there were a few problems because everything had been going so well, but Brent was too drugged up to care. :)

The doctor first ordered an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) which as far as we know was ok - the surgeon never actually came in and spoke with us, he called Brent on the room phone. He also ordered more labs and a chest x-ray. It turns out Brent has what is called a pleural effusion. A pleural effusion is excess fluid that accumulates in the pleural cavity - which is the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Too much fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs. Luckily he is not having any symptoms like shortness of breath or cough from the effusion. The doctor was going to give him a medication called Lasix (which is a diuretic), but Brent's blood pressure has been low, so the doctor held the Lasix because he didn't want his blood pressure to drop more. Even though I'm a nurse, I was slightly confused today about what was going on and how the effusion is being treated because it's a Saturday and the on-call doctors didn't really explain that much to us. I believe the doctor said he could either be bleeding into his pleural cavity or his heart could just be "eating" too many RBCs after surgery. What I do know is that I was sad he had to have a blood transfusion because that means his body is not producing enough red blood cells after the surgery, or his heart is using too many up right now. These are all normal complications after a heart surgery, I was just hoping Brent would have a complication-free recovery. That being said, he did feel better after the blood transfusion. I asked the night nurse what his RBC count was tonight, but she never came back and told me. I'll find out later when Brent wakes up the first time. :)

We pretty much just hung out in the hospital room today and rested - well, of course we were woken up quite a bit with the multiple blood draws, blood transfusion, ECHO, and chest x-ray. I try to sleep when Brent sleeps, which is an interesting sleep schedule for someone who didn't just have heart surgery. :) It was nice that Brent was awake some during the late afternoon and early evening. We were able to hang out for like an hour and talk, which I desperately needed some quality time with him. I get pretty lonely sitting here in the hospital room all day - and today was a particularly hard day because we were supposed to be in Atlanta this weekend and today was supposed to be my bridal shower. I am so glad Brent is ok, but I couldn't help but get discouraged today because before all this happened, I was very much looking forward to having a bridal shower and being with my friends. We do both get sad about how much has changed in the past week and how different the last weeks of our engagement will be. I think I get more upset because I am just sitting here all day watching him sleep, and though I am SO grateful for God's timing and that we caught this huge aneurysm when we did, sometimes I do question "why": why did this have to happen now, why does this have to happen to Brent, why didn't we get a break this summer, why couldn't we have a normal engagement, etc. I realize it's selfish, but sometimes I can't help but be human - I do wonder why we're sitting in a hospital and everyone else is out having fun and a normal life. I try to keep my faith strong, but sometimes I get upset - and I just want to hug Brent and I can't. In the end though, I know God has a plan and has everything under control and we've been so blessed in both of our pasts - I just wish I knew why this happened now. So I guess I should ask for prayer for my strength as well - and that I can somehow finish planning our wedding in addition to taking care of Brent. I am slightly stressed about how I am going to finish planning our wedding in 6 weeks, but I'm sure it will all work out.

We are still hoping to be discharged on Monday, despite some setbacks today. Brent did still take 2 long laps today and ate a little more. I got him a plain hamburger from In-N-Out for dinner because he's anemic and his doctor told him to eat red meat. Brent and I rarely eat fast food (he hates fast food) so it was funny to watch him wolf down a burger when he's barely been eating jello and soup. Plus I was excited to leave the hospital for 30 minutes and eat an In-N-Out burger myself! I hadn't had one since we started dating. :)

We're both looking forward to tomorrow as we are having some friends come visit, so the day should go by quicker! It will be Monday before we know it!

Please continue to pray for us, we've been in the hospital for a week now and I think we're both ready to get out of here. We're looking forward to being at home on Monday, although it will still be a long recovery. Please continue to pray for a speedy, easy, complication-free recovery for Brent!

God bless,
~Rachel