My father passed away...

[claire338]

My late father passed away 2 months ago and I am still trying to find an answer so hopefully you can help...
He had a hospital admission in January as he was on warfirn for a clot on his heart,he had COPD and heart failure.. his INR was 18 so they gave him Vitamin K to bring it down, he caught hospital aquired pheumonia and h.influenza, they stopped his warfirn for life as his INR was still high, his haemaglobin was 8.0, which I think is low,  he had a fall and hurt his ribs and they discharged him from hospital as he felt better but after being home he started to decline so I had the dr out and started him on antiobiotics which didn't help, we called for an ambulance and he was admitted with left sided pheumonia and was started on I.V Vancoymycin, his white cell went from 17 to 15 to 30 and they found out he had small and large bowel iscemia which they couldn't do anything for, he passed away peacefully after a few days, I am not a dr but I have a bad feeling something went wrong when he was in hospital when his INR was high...could he of knocked his bowel when he fell? was his haemaglbin low and bleeding???
All answers greatfully received
Claire338

[ireneo]

I do hope you get some answers that will bring you some peace of mind. Not knowing is always hard.

[claire338]

To all the kind people that have taken the time to reply to my post, I want to thank you so much, I really appreciate your help and kind words and advice.
Its a good idea for me to get in touch with the drs who treated my dad, just so its clear in my mind.

All the best
Claire X

[skydnsr]

I'm so sorry for your loss.  It is hard to say exactly what happened at the end, for your father.  I second ireneo in inviting you to discuss these matters with his doctor.  That is the person who should have the best idea how events transpired medically.  I can say that your dad was very, very sick.  That might seem obvious, but I'm just saying that I don't believe his death would have have been a shock to the medical personnel who were treating him.  COPD and heart failure are both terminal illnesses, and he had each one of them.  At the end, any number of things could have broken down.  One thing goes wrong, and then there is a cascade of system failures.  There is a book called How We Die, by Sherwin Nuland, that might interest you.  Dr. Nuland is a now-retired surgeon.  He talks about the exact physical mechanisms of death.  I wish you comfort and peace.  I deeply hope you get the answers you are seeking, and if by chance you don't, I hope you can let go of the need for the answers.  

[jrbon]

I am very sorry for your father, ischemic bowel is only one of the many complications that HF has.

Fortunately, you say  that he passed away peacefully, because it can be terrible painful.

Jesus

[ireneo]

I'm so sorry your Dad passed away. Even when we know our loved one is not doing well health wise, it's never quite expected when they go. We always hope for one more week, one more day.

I can't answer your questions unfortunately. I'm not sure your post is in chronological order. You said his hemoglobin was low (and it was) but then said he fell. So I don't think (if things came in that order) that a fall was the cause of his low levels. So many things can cause low hemoglobin from something as simple as low B12 to diseases.

With COPD his lungs were already compromised and were sensitive to any lung related infections. I have asthma and where most people get a cold, if I get a cold, my lungs will tighten up and I'll end up at the hospital or on antibiotics. The germs are all around us, in hospital or not.

I don't know about the cause of the bowel ischemia. With heart failure blood circulation is not up to par and can cause all kinds of problems elsewhere in the body.

Perhaps you could discuss these things with his doctor. The doctor would have a better overall picture of your Dad's health and might be able to walk you through exactly what happened.

I wish you fond memories and peace of mind. My Dad also passed away a little over 4 years ago from heart failure and cancer. I understand how it feels but it does get easier. I love thinking of him now.