Monday, February 22, 2010

I Didn't Fall Off The Planet....

Back on Thanksgiving, the adults were seated in the kitchen and the younger "kids" were in the other room eating.  My sister-in-law quietly summoned me to the downstairs bathroom as my son's nose had begun to bleed. For the next half hour or so, he and I worked to get it to stop and simultaneously keep my sister-in-law's recently redone powder room from looking like a scene from Friday the 13th.

It turns out that Thanksgiving was the beginning of a five-day siege of nosebleeds that got progressively worse and finally sent us to the emergency room on Sunday of that weekend. My son works at our parish rectory and I got a call from him in the late morning saying he had a bad bleed. I drove up to the rectory took one look and called our doc, who was not on call and the on-call doc told us to go to the emergency room. So, I ran over to our church and caught our pastor just before he processed down the main aisle at the start of mass and told him that his worker had to go the hospital.

The bleeding was unbelievable. We just kept adding tissues and by the time we arrived in the ER, he had a wad of kleenex the size of a softball up at his nose and the blood was still pouring over top.

My poor baby....
 



The ER doctor couldn't find a cause for the bleeding but referred us to an ears, nose, and throat doctor, whom we saw the following week. He found a vessel that was getting ready to rupture again and cauterized it and told us to return in two months.

Fast forward to last week, and we saw the ENT doctor again, who suddenly informed me that my son probably should have surgery to remove his enlarged adenoids and repair his deviated septum, and that both of those issues are contributing to his nosebleeds. I questioned why he didn't tell me this at our initial visit and he responded that he made a note to this effect to himself in the chart.  Needless to say, second opinion were the first two words that popped into my head. I contacted DuPont Hospital for Children to set up an appointment. It turns out the doc we met with is chairman of the ENT department at DuPont. He examined my son and told me his septum was "relatively straight" and that his adenoids were negligible at this age and that surgery is definitely, definitely not needed and that both of the issues the first doctor described would NOT contribute to his horrendous nosebleeds. 

I am so glad we saw the second guy. He said the only surgery he would consider would be repair of a vessel in his nose if the cauterization no longer works. So, we are taking steps to help prevent the nosebleeds and so far, so good.  My boy was a very happy camper after that second opinion....


Me, well I am busy aging and having lots of joint and bone pain, that hopefully I'll get to the bottom of on May 19 - the earliest appointment I could get with a rheumatologist.  That may seem like a long time away from now, however I've had a lot of pain for many, many years so a couple of months isn't so bad.

In the meantime, I am taking photos here and there of just stuff....

 

My new camera strap from MyFunkyCamera! Beautiful isn't it?


Gerber Daisies we gave to my daughter for making fourth chair clarinet in an area concert.


A simple dripping icicle....

Life is rolling along, we are busy with the kids and their activities, and I am hoping to feel better soon. I am taking a zumba class. It's painful but fun, and I am doing my best to keep my joints moving. I just load up on Advil before I head out to class.



Oh, last week, when leaving Zumba class, I was approached by a man who told me his car broke down and he was trying to get to Wilmington, DE to visit his sick mom in the hospital. He was even carrying a long stem rose and a bottle of hand sanitizer to make it look legit. When I offered to him that the trolley stop was only several hundred yards behind him, he said he had no money. Luckily, a friend was right there with her car so she told me to get in the car, which I did, and then we drove to the police station and told them about the incident.... sort of scary and maybe it really was nothing but still we felt an obligation to report it.

I am looking forward to spring very much - getting outside and walking and not dealing with snow and ice.  As of this moment, we are awaiting a big rain storm coming today and through tomorrow.  On the bright side, Phillies spring training has begun so that means spring is definitely on its way.  Thank goodness for having hobbies or I don't think I'd survive the winter. Well, except this winter is a bit better because we have the Olympics to enjoy every day, and I so enjoy them. Helps me to relive my days as a champion figure skater.....





4 comments:

Matty said...

I don't get nosebleeds and neither did anyone in my family. But, I've seen other people with them and they weren't too bad. They just sat with their head tilted back for a while with stuff up their nose. But it sure sounds like his is no ordinary nosebleed. Thank goodness for your 2nd opinion. I hope it heals up for him.

Don't you just love the again process. I've had a few issues myself, and it doesn't get any easier with age. I'm dealing with a few things myself. I've heard of others doing this Zumba class, and it seems to be the hip thing right now.

Ah yes, spring training. Life is slowly seeping back into my body. After the final out of the last game of the world series, I start counting the days until spring training. I can't wait for the regular season to begin. I am so tired of winter.

Unknown said...

I love the picture of you in your skating costume Dot : ) So pretty! Look at those legs! Clearly Zumba is where it is at : )

I am so sorry about the nosebleeds. That had to be so scary! Wow. I can't even imagine. I am SO thankful you got a second opinion. Very wise!

Congratulations on her chair in the band : ) That is exciting. Gerber daisies are my favorite!

Praying for a wonderful week with lots of blessings for you : )

Drew said...

Hot mama! :) I'm sorry to hear what your son is going through. Angie had problems with this when she was in high school. If I recall correctly, she had to have her nose cauterized twice and then she didn't have problems after that. Hopefully that's the only issue.

stephseef said...

Hi Dot - just trolling blogs and had to say hi. I have RA and see a rheum every 3 months. It was a hard diagnosis to process, but the meds have really helped. it takes time to find what works best, but once we landed on it, it really made a difference. I hope you' find some alleviation from the pain.... i know exactly how you feel!!!

Thank heavens, too, for second opinions. :)
Blessings!
Steph