A Long Night

Sorry I didn't blog on Saturday. I actually was dialyzed on Friday night, instead. We went to Cleveland for the weekend...

But Thursday night was eventful to say the least. I had a nose bleed that started at 8:30 pm. I have never seen so much blood come out of a persons nose or mouth. It was disgusting! By 10:00 I was getting pretty scared, so I called my mom to come back to the house and stay with the girls while Jason took me to the ER.

They actually took me in pretty quickly. I think it's because I had just sprayed blood all over the public restroom. About a half-hour after I got a room the doctor came in to try to get the bleeding to stop. Do you know what they use to make noses stop bleeding? A mixture of Afrin nose spray and...COCAINE! Seriously, the bottle said "cocaine" and I just joked about it. But the doctor said, "Yep, it's the real thing." It apparently constricts the blood vessels and make the bleeding stop. It also numbed my nose and lips a bit.

But that wasn't the worst part. After another hour he decided to "pack" my nose. I thought he'd just shove some cotton up my nostril, but he had another idea. A "rhino-rocket." Sounds cool. Hurts like hell. It's a plastic balloon that gets stuck in your nose (I swear it almost touched my brain). Then they pump air into it to put pressure on the vessel that is bleeding. You should also know that a large hard plastic tube hangs out of the nose and is taped to the side of your face. Uh huh. Attractive.

Needless to say, the doctor told me to stay home from school on Friday. Another unpaid day. But it hurt so bad and I'm not sure I could have made it though the day if I did go. The pain meds are all fine and dandy, but they usually just make me feel drunk...and still in pain.