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Coughing up blood

J

JennifersHope

New member
One of the things that happen to me post operatively was that I coughed up blood... not a little but a lot of blood... between what got suctioned out of my stomach and what came out of my lungs I needed a blood transfussion.

A day after the surgery I became really anxious.. l was grabbing at things, picking at my hair and just really anxious.. one of my friends came up to see me from the ER and noticed I wasn't myself.. She checked my O2 sat and found it was in the low 80s... she immediately started doing CPT on me to which I coughed up a massive amount of blood, it went all over, it went in my hair, my blankets, clothes and even some on the walls... they said from being intubated I pooled blood there.

I understand medically speaking, but emotionally speaking...I am beside myself... I am so afraid.. I am paralized with fear..everytime I feel something dripping in my throat.. I jump up and spit in a tissue and check for blood... I am so afraid because it felt like I was drowning and no one could help me.... I could see the look in my friends face.. honestly she was trying not to throw up... it was so gross.. and bloody... I know she is a nurse but still we have our limits...


WHAT DO you do to get over this... I don't know how to let it go... I am scared..... I didn't even know I was hypoxic at the time.. or that I needed to clear my lungs.... I don't want that to happen to me again and I don't want to hear that I will get used to it... COughing blood out so hard that it hit the walls is not okay with me and it never will be....

ANyone have any ways for me to cope with this.....I don't know if having the other situation that happen to me is adding to this I am sure it is....but I am not the type of person to stay living in fear but I am so scared I tremble when I think of it.

THanks for any help

Jennifer
 
J

JennifersHope

New member
One of the things that happen to me post operatively was that I coughed up blood... not a little but a lot of blood... between what got suctioned out of my stomach and what came out of my lungs I needed a blood transfussion.

A day after the surgery I became really anxious.. l was grabbing at things, picking at my hair and just really anxious.. one of my friends came up to see me from the ER and noticed I wasn't myself.. She checked my O2 sat and found it was in the low 80s... she immediately started doing CPT on me to which I coughed up a massive amount of blood, it went all over, it went in my hair, my blankets, clothes and even some on the walls... they said from being intubated I pooled blood there.

I understand medically speaking, but emotionally speaking...I am beside myself... I am so afraid.. I am paralized with fear..everytime I feel something dripping in my throat.. I jump up and spit in a tissue and check for blood... I am so afraid because it felt like I was drowning and no one could help me.... I could see the look in my friends face.. honestly she was trying not to throw up... it was so gross.. and bloody... I know she is a nurse but still we have our limits...


WHAT DO you do to get over this... I don't know how to let it go... I am scared..... I didn't even know I was hypoxic at the time.. or that I needed to clear my lungs.... I don't want that to happen to me again and I don't want to hear that I will get used to it... COughing blood out so hard that it hit the walls is not okay with me and it never will be....

ANyone have any ways for me to cope with this.....I don't know if having the other situation that happen to me is adding to this I am sure it is....but I am not the type of person to stay living in fear but I am so scared I tremble when I think of it.

THanks for any help

Jennifer
 
J

JennifersHope

New member
One of the things that happen to me post operatively was that I coughed up blood... not a little but a lot of blood... between what got suctioned out of my stomach and what came out of my lungs I needed a blood transfussion.

A day after the surgery I became really anxious.. l was grabbing at things, picking at my hair and just really anxious.. one of my friends came up to see me from the ER and noticed I wasn't myself.. She checked my O2 sat and found it was in the low 80s... she immediately started doing CPT on me to which I coughed up a massive amount of blood, it went all over, it went in my hair, my blankets, clothes and even some on the walls... they said from being intubated I pooled blood there.

I understand medically speaking, but emotionally speaking...I am beside myself... I am so afraid.. I am paralized with fear..everytime I feel something dripping in my throat.. I jump up and spit in a tissue and check for blood... I am so afraid because it felt like I was drowning and no one could help me.... I could see the look in my friends face.. honestly she was trying not to throw up... it was so gross.. and bloody... I know she is a nurse but still we have our limits...


WHAT DO you do to get over this... I don't know how to let it go... I am scared..... I didn't even know I was hypoxic at the time.. or that I needed to clear my lungs.... I don't want that to happen to me again and I don't want to hear that I will get used to it... COughing blood out so hard that it hit the walls is not okay with me and it never will be....

ANyone have any ways for me to cope with this.....I don't know if having the other situation that happen to me is adding to this I am sure it is....but I am not the type of person to stay living in fear but I am so scared I tremble when I think of it.

THanks for any help

Jennifer
 
N

NoExcuses

New member
Coughing up blood is the closest to death I feel that I have ever been.

And it's horrifying. Scary. And just about the worst thing ever in my opinion.

I find myself often checking to make sure my sputum doesn't have blood - even though I have not had massive hemoptasis like you experienced. I'm always always always frightened that it might return.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I can't imagine how horrifying it must have been for you. And it totaly makes sense that you are still reeling from it. Everything about it is just awful.

My only advice is 1). Give it time. It sounds cheesy, but our body's natural coping mechanisms do help us deal with trama over time. Although to be honest, the fear will probably always be there in some form 2). Talk about it. As women, our seratonin levels go up when we talk. It's a physiological fact. Talking also helps our minds process events better. Events are difficult to fully digest right away and often take weeks to full process. 3). Pray. And have others pray for you. Pray for piece of mind. Pray that it won't happen to you again.

I hope you are able to cope with this horrible event. We're all here for you.
 
N

NoExcuses

New member
Coughing up blood is the closest to death I feel that I have ever been.

And it's horrifying. Scary. And just about the worst thing ever in my opinion.

I find myself often checking to make sure my sputum doesn't have blood - even though I have not had massive hemoptasis like you experienced. I'm always always always frightened that it might return.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I can't imagine how horrifying it must have been for you. And it totaly makes sense that you are still reeling from it. Everything about it is just awful.

My only advice is 1). Give it time. It sounds cheesy, but our body's natural coping mechanisms do help us deal with trama over time. Although to be honest, the fear will probably always be there in some form 2). Talk about it. As women, our seratonin levels go up when we talk. It's a physiological fact. Talking also helps our minds process events better. Events are difficult to fully digest right away and often take weeks to full process. 3). Pray. And have others pray for you. Pray for piece of mind. Pray that it won't happen to you again.

I hope you are able to cope with this horrible event. We're all here for you.
 
N

NoExcuses

New member
Coughing up blood is the closest to death I feel that I have ever been.

And it's horrifying. Scary. And just about the worst thing ever in my opinion.

I find myself often checking to make sure my sputum doesn't have blood - even though I have not had massive hemoptasis like you experienced. I'm always always always frightened that it might return.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I can't imagine how horrifying it must have been for you. And it totaly makes sense that you are still reeling from it. Everything about it is just awful.

My only advice is 1). Give it time. It sounds cheesy, but our body's natural coping mechanisms do help us deal with trama over time. Although to be honest, the fear will probably always be there in some form 2). Talk about it. As women, our seratonin levels go up when we talk. It's a physiological fact. Talking also helps our minds process events better. Events are difficult to fully digest right away and often take weeks to full process. 3). Pray. And have others pray for you. Pray for piece of mind. Pray that it won't happen to you again.

I hope you are able to cope with this horrible event. We're all here for you.
 
L

LouLou

New member
Jennifer, I have dealt with small episodes of hemoptysis since I was 13. Everyone looks at me and thinks I'm so healthy including doctors. Though no doctor is surprised I deal with hemoptysis as it's very common with cf although doesn't seem to be over common on this site. I have certain known triggers and then some unknown that I believe may be diet and environmental caused. So here's an example of how weird it is. I took the underground subway home. I walked up 3 flights of stairs and open the door to the outside air and Bam hemoptysis. I'm averaging 8 times per month with 1-2 tsp. I can feel where it erupts from if you gave me an Xray I could probably pin point exactly where it is. Now if I workout hard 160 heartrate at aerobics class I don't get the episode or even a trace. The cold and sudden heart racing are triggers as are shivering (as in getting into a freakin' cold bed), lying flat on my back , sit ups (in the classic sense of the term - I have modified motion I do for my abs of steel hee, hee). I believe white sugar is a trigger for me but I am only just finding this.
A few tips from doc's - always spit into the same type of vessel so you can easily report changes in volume. I use a bathroom dixie cup.
Don't ever spit into porcelain - that means no toilets or sinks. The contrast of the white and red is just too much emotion for you or your loved one's phsyche to deal with. This might sound silly like 'Oh I can handle it' but healing from a bleed starts immediately and you want that hole to clot as fast as possible any sort of fear that can raise your blood pressure, even if very subtle, isn't good.
Consider having a certain positive imagery that you envision when you have an episode. A specific beach memory from a trip or walking in your favorite park with your friend, etc.
You don't want to run around freakin' out that you are bleeding...there ain't no band-aid that you can put on it so as you would with any wound stay calm and motionless (relatively) until it clots.
You'll be able to tell that it has clotted because you won't have the required feeling that you need to cough and what you do cough up will be dark read not bright fresh blood red.
Finally, drink cold water.
Let's discuss more I have to go.
 
L

LouLou

New member
Jennifer, I have dealt with small episodes of hemoptysis since I was 13. Everyone looks at me and thinks I'm so healthy including doctors. Though no doctor is surprised I deal with hemoptysis as it's very common with cf although doesn't seem to be over common on this site. I have certain known triggers and then some unknown that I believe may be diet and environmental caused. So here's an example of how weird it is. I took the underground subway home. I walked up 3 flights of stairs and open the door to the outside air and Bam hemoptysis. I'm averaging 8 times per month with 1-2 tsp. I can feel where it erupts from if you gave me an Xray I could probably pin point exactly where it is. Now if I workout hard 160 heartrate at aerobics class I don't get the episode or even a trace. The cold and sudden heart racing are triggers as are shivering (as in getting into a freakin' cold bed), lying flat on my back , sit ups (in the classic sense of the term - I have modified motion I do for my abs of steel hee, hee). I believe white sugar is a trigger for me but I am only just finding this.
A few tips from doc's - always spit into the same type of vessel so you can easily report changes in volume. I use a bathroom dixie cup.
Don't ever spit into porcelain - that means no toilets or sinks. The contrast of the white and red is just too much emotion for you or your loved one's phsyche to deal with. This might sound silly like 'Oh I can handle it' but healing from a bleed starts immediately and you want that hole to clot as fast as possible any sort of fear that can raise your blood pressure, even if very subtle, isn't good.
Consider having a certain positive imagery that you envision when you have an episode. A specific beach memory from a trip or walking in your favorite park with your friend, etc.
You don't want to run around freakin' out that you are bleeding...there ain't no band-aid that you can put on it so as you would with any wound stay calm and motionless (relatively) until it clots.
You'll be able to tell that it has clotted because you won't have the required feeling that you need to cough and what you do cough up will be dark read not bright fresh blood red.
Finally, drink cold water.
Let's discuss more I have to go.
 
L

LouLou

New member
Jennifer, I have dealt with small episodes of hemoptysis since I was 13. Everyone looks at me and thinks I'm so healthy including doctors. Though no doctor is surprised I deal with hemoptysis as it's very common with cf although doesn't seem to be over common on this site. I have certain known triggers and then some unknown that I believe may be diet and environmental caused. So here's an example of how weird it is. I took the underground subway home. I walked up 3 flights of stairs and open the door to the outside air and Bam hemoptysis. I'm averaging 8 times per month with 1-2 tsp. I can feel where it erupts from if you gave me an Xray I could probably pin point exactly where it is. Now if I workout hard 160 heartrate at aerobics class I don't get the episode or even a trace. The cold and sudden heart racing are triggers as are shivering (as in getting into a freakin' cold bed), lying flat on my back , sit ups (in the classic sense of the term - I have modified motion I do for my abs of steel hee, hee). I believe white sugar is a trigger for me but I am only just finding this.
A few tips from doc's - always spit into the same type of vessel so you can easily report changes in volume. I use a bathroom dixie cup.
Don't ever spit into porcelain - that means no toilets or sinks. The contrast of the white and red is just too much emotion for you or your loved one's phsyche to deal with. This might sound silly like 'Oh I can handle it' but healing from a bleed starts immediately and you want that hole to clot as fast as possible any sort of fear that can raise your blood pressure, even if very subtle, isn't good.
Consider having a certain positive imagery that you envision when you have an episode. A specific beach memory from a trip or walking in your favorite park with your friend, etc.
You don't want to run around freakin' out that you are bleeding...there ain't no band-aid that you can put on it so as you would with any wound stay calm and motionless (relatively) until it clots.
You'll be able to tell that it has clotted because you won't have the required feeling that you need to cough and what you do cough up will be dark read not bright fresh blood red.
Finally, drink cold water.
Let's discuss more I have to go.
 
T

thelizardqueen

New member
Jen, I sort of know how you feel and to some extent what you went through. 2 years ago I had two months worth of severe hemoptysis that ended in an embolization. For two months I coughed up cups of blood daily. It was scary, it woke me up at night, etc. But as time went on I started to get used to it, or rather wasn't as scared anymore. I know that in your situation it was worse then what I experienced, but it will get easier to deal with, and you won't be as scared. Who knows, maybe you'll never have to deal with it again. To this day I still check my sputum for blood, whenever there's a trickle down my throat, I think the worse.

All I can say is if it happens again, drink cold water, try to stay calm, call someone over who you feel comfortable with, or even just talk to someone on the phone while you're going through it. Ice packs on the chest will help as well. I hope this helps in someway. Just know that you're not the only one going through episodes like this. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
T

thelizardqueen

New member
Jen, I sort of know how you feel and to some extent what you went through. 2 years ago I had two months worth of severe hemoptysis that ended in an embolization. For two months I coughed up cups of blood daily. It was scary, it woke me up at night, etc. But as time went on I started to get used to it, or rather wasn't as scared anymore. I know that in your situation it was worse then what I experienced, but it will get easier to deal with, and you won't be as scared. Who knows, maybe you'll never have to deal with it again. To this day I still check my sputum for blood, whenever there's a trickle down my throat, I think the worse.

All I can say is if it happens again, drink cold water, try to stay calm, call someone over who you feel comfortable with, or even just talk to someone on the phone while you're going through it. Ice packs on the chest will help as well. I hope this helps in someway. Just know that you're not the only one going through episodes like this. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
T

thelizardqueen

New member
Jen, I sort of know how you feel and to some extent what you went through. 2 years ago I had two months worth of severe hemoptysis that ended in an embolization. For two months I coughed up cups of blood daily. It was scary, it woke me up at night, etc. But as time went on I started to get used to it, or rather wasn't as scared anymore. I know that in your situation it was worse then what I experienced, but it will get easier to deal with, and you won't be as scared. Who knows, maybe you'll never have to deal with it again. To this day I still check my sputum for blood, whenever there's a trickle down my throat, I think the worse.

All I can say is if it happens again, drink cold water, try to stay calm, call someone over who you feel comfortable with, or even just talk to someone on the phone while you're going through it. Ice packs on the chest will help as well. I hope this helps in someway. Just know that you're not the only one going through episodes like this. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
J

JazzysMom

New member
I can say that although I dont freak like I use to, I still get that feeling of anxiety as my brain tries to retrace my steps leading up to the hemoptysis. Did I drink too much caffine, did I overdo, have I been coughing more than usual that it could be an infection? I get all shaky & nervous as I go pop some vitamin K, grab a glass of ice water & hope I dont have to get out the ice pack for my chest before its all said & done. It tends to worry me more at night. Probably because I am tired & just want to sleep. There is no magical cure to stop the emotions that come with hemoptysis. Even tho its not "normal", its "common" for us. Your body has been thru a lot & you need to remember that. It will take time for everthing to get back to normal or as normal as you get LOL! Just know that those of us with a history of hemoptysis truly understand your fears so you are not alone!
 
J

JazzysMom

New member
I can say that although I dont freak like I use to, I still get that feeling of anxiety as my brain tries to retrace my steps leading up to the hemoptysis. Did I drink too much caffine, did I overdo, have I been coughing more than usual that it could be an infection? I get all shaky & nervous as I go pop some vitamin K, grab a glass of ice water & hope I dont have to get out the ice pack for my chest before its all said & done. It tends to worry me more at night. Probably because I am tired & just want to sleep. There is no magical cure to stop the emotions that come with hemoptysis. Even tho its not "normal", its "common" for us. Your body has been thru a lot & you need to remember that. It will take time for everthing to get back to normal or as normal as you get LOL! Just know that those of us with a history of hemoptysis truly understand your fears so you are not alone!
 
J

JazzysMom

New member
I can say that although I dont freak like I use to, I still get that feeling of anxiety as my brain tries to retrace my steps leading up to the hemoptysis. Did I drink too much caffine, did I overdo, have I been coughing more than usual that it could be an infection? I get all shaky & nervous as I go pop some vitamin K, grab a glass of ice water & hope I dont have to get out the ice pack for my chest before its all said & done. It tends to worry me more at night. Probably because I am tired & just want to sleep. There is no magical cure to stop the emotions that come with hemoptysis. Even tho its not "normal", its "common" for us. Your body has been thru a lot & you need to remember that. It will take time for everthing to get back to normal or as normal as you get LOL! Just know that those of us with a history of hemoptysis truly understand your fears so you are not alone!
 
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