Angela J. Maasen RN

Well the last week was a little different than most weeks. This past Monday my mom went in for out patient surgery on her knee, she tore her meniscus about a month ago, so she was going into have it fixed. I took off Monday and Tuesday to be with my mom. The surgery was real successful, the doctor said her repaired everything and that her knee looked good and that there was minimal bone on bone rubbing. So I thought great now I just got to take care of her and make her comfortable for a couple of days and then I will head back to work.

Well as soon as we got home from the hospital I was helping my mom get into her pajamas and that is when we saw lots of blood on the bandage and running down her leg! (sorry for those of you who don't like these kind of stories) My first thoughts were YIKES MY MOM IS GOING TO FREAK OUT! She did a tad but then she was on so many drugs that it really was not that bad of a freak out. So I helped her get in her pajamas and then I immediately called the only RN that I know - Melissa Yoh, she said "hmmm it is normal for there to be a little blood but not that much. Call the doctors office and talk to a nurse then call me back." The surgeon nurse was "like oh that's normal, apply pressure and ice and call me back in 10 minutes." I told her more than twice that there is A LOT of blood. But she didn't get phased. So I did what she said and it slowed down a little, called her back and she said it was fine. She said that it was just oozing out of the stitches area. I was thinking - this is more than oozing but hey she is the nurse, I am just role playing one.

So the next day there is still blood but less. I call the nurse again and she says its okay and to keep doing what we are doing - it is slowing down so that is good. Tuesday night it was pretty much done but still a little bit. So I decided that I should stay with her on Wednesday too just to make sure. Well then on Wednesday when she woke up and ate breakfast she noticed that she was bleeding alot again, it bled through everything again. So I told her that I was taking her to the Emergency Room cause I was tired of dealing with it and I needed someone else to see it. So we went and got seen rather quickly - I think that the bleeding helped that process go quicker. The ER doctor was like it is not normal that it is still bleeding but I am not going to do anything cause the surgeon should really be the one to do something - so off to the doctors office.

Thankfully at the doctors office she was still bleeding pretty good (I wanted them to see it so that they would know it was more than just a little blood). The nurse came in and said oh this is not normal (finally she believed me), the doctor came in after a few minutes and said that "he must of nicked a vein while he was in there and that is why it is still bleeding." AWESOME! - NOT! So he put another stitch in my moms knee, but it kept bleeding. He told my mom that she could bleed for a few more days or a few more hours - it was hard to know. So I talked it over with my mom and we decided that I should probably stay with her the rest of the week cause someone was going to have to change the bandage periodically if it kept bleeding.

The bleeding finally stopped on Friday morning. Thank the Lord! Overall my mom was a great patient and I am pretty sure that I did an okay job of playing a nurse/chef/house cleaner. I think that the patient was pleased with my work. I did learn a few things while I was doing this. I really enjoy a job where you can go outside throughout the day, that if either one of my parents ever need care later on in life I would rather pay someone to do it than do it myself. Not because I don't love them but because it is alot of work and a professional person would be much better for them - I might need to start saving for that.