Bleeding Varices or what????

We woke up yesterday morning to brother, (stage 4 liver w/spinal mets,varices, acites and edema)coughing up blood and passing it in his stool. It has been around 4 wks. since he was over coagulated for pulmonary embolism and bled profusely from varices. At that time they took him off of all blood thinners and banded several varicies, replaced part of the blood volume he had lost by transfusion, which led to extreme ascites and edema. To every treatment the seem to be a new set of issues/risks.

The GI team promptly came to see him,soon after our arrival at the ER yeaterday morning. they were concerned that the blood may be coming from his lungs or somewhere else but postponed any procedure until today. Over night he seemed to be bleeding out at a faster rate and was given 2 pints of blood. They are coming to do an en exploratory endoscopy at noon today.Hoping that it is more varices that they can simply band. Is it common for someone to have bleeding varices repeat so soon?

What if it's not? What if the blood is in fact coming from his lungs or somewhere else?? So many questions, so few answers. He is already miserable with all of this, and the spinal mets are a major source of pain, along with the discomfort of the ascites. We realize that the ascites will increase with transfusion this time. It is just so hard to wait and worry, and watch him be so afraid.

We have access to all of his labs and radiology reports online, a service that our Dr. and hospital provide. I wait and watch as his numbers drop, as we know when the PCV reaches 25 it is time for blood, the won't replace all of the volume of lost blood as it would create more pressure and cause him to bleed faster. It is just so very troubling. We are helpless and just wait til noon for answers.

Thanks for letting me vent and try to make some sense. We know his time left with us is short lived but want to make everylast minute count and for him to feel that he is getting the very best care.

Tc_sis

I have also posted this at Caregivers, possibly more chances that someone will be familiar with the problems we face.