Sick Husbands- Part 2

(This post may not be suitable for the faint of heart or easily grossed out. I'm blogging about blood and other gross stuff, so run away now if you're squeamish!)

Well my dearest little Jef was supposed to have a doctor's appointment yesterday for his sore throat. We went to grab lunch a few hours before the appointment, came back home to eat, and that's when his nose started to bleed.

Now, to put this into perspective, I've had nosebleeds my whole life. As a kid, I would have 4-5 big ones a week. I've had nasal arteries cauterized, my nose packed, and was voted most likely to carry cotton balls in my book bag. Some nosebleeds were heavy, some not so bad. I've never been bothered by them, or when anyone else's nose would bleed.

So, when Jef's nose started bleeding yesterday I thought nothing of it. I had him pack it with a cotton ball, tilt forward, apply pressure to the bridge of the nose, and grabbed an ice pack for him. Long story short, after 2 hours of this it was time to move to bigger and better methods- the doctor's office.

Well, apparently, bleeding is not on the list of "important conditions" for our doctor who told Jef he could "work him in tomorrow". By this time, his nose had started to pour blood and he was coughing up clots that looked like large oysters. Long story short, after trying to get into a quick care clinic (they don't take HMOs- grrrrr!) we landed at the ER. After waiting 2 hours they said "apply pressure, lean forward, check you in a bit". An hour later they gave Jef nose spray to try to quell the flood. No change. Then they tried a clotting paste. Nothing. Then they finally (nearly 5 hours later) decided to pack his nose with what can only be described as an inflatable tampon soaked in antibiotics. That stopped the flow, they gave him an Rx for a severe sinus infection, and we were heading back home.

Of course, it would all be too simple if the story stopped there, right?

We went to bed around 10, and I woke up when Jef did around 1:30. He kept coughing up clots and his nose was seeping again, so he tried to tend to himself as best he could.

Then I hear him say "it fell out". The nose tampon (literally the size and shape of a jr tampon) had come dislodged somehow and AGAIN, the nose was pouring blood. I grabbed a cotton ball, the thrombin clotting agent from the hospital, and made a "bullet" to shove up his nose. And let me just say, by this point I was pooped- I needed sleep- and being gentle was no longer in my nature. I shoved the cotton as far up his nose as it would possibly go. And then I gave it another shove. He slept after that, and it held until about 8am.

He's off to his doc appointment now, so we'll see how that goes. I'm going to take Ava to my mom's house and try to grab some shut eye.

And one last thing to ponder:

Why do I always compare gross stuff to food? I'm sure Tracey remembers my description of my mucus plug all too well: "Chicken Tender". Now we have blood clot oysters to add to the menu. I'll never see the Daytona Beach Oyster Pub in quite the same light again.