The Nose

The Nose is so Important.....but why is Mine and Marks so big? :-)


Poor Andrew has had drama with his Nose....

Julie: Andrew do you have a lot of nose bleeds?

Andrew: No, I don't think so.

Julie: How many do you think you have a week?

Andrew: Maybe 4 or 5?

Julie: And how many did you have yesterday? 

Andrew: 2

Julie: Do you think this is normal?

Andrew: Yes

After this conversation I knew I had to get his nose fixed. 

When I went on my search for a new family doctor, I made sure to ask it they can cauterize a nose if need be. Sure sure they said. After my second visit they now tell me they don't like to do this for children. Well they could have told me this earlier. I knew lotions were not going to cure his problem. 

So off to a specialist we went. She was great. After 5 seconds looking around his nose she could tell he had a deviated septum and would need surgery when he got older. Also could tell that he had lots of blood vessels close to the surface and would need to be cauterized for sure. ( Just what I told the other doctor months ago) 

Andrew was not feeling too good when he saw all her instruments on the table next to his chair. They did look pretty scary. The cauterizing was kind of painful for him. But he did great. She was very quick and did not linger around so he could get worried about it. After she was done he started to look very pale. I thought for sure he was going to pass out. He threw up his small breakfast, good thing it was just toast. He was still sweaty and pale so she let him lay down in the chair for a while. I am so glad we did not rush out after the procedure. He would have gone down in the hallway for sure.  Lots of drainage after, and uncomfortable and yucky taste in your mouth. But doing ok. Nothing a Chocolate Sunday won't fix. 

Wikipedia: 

If a person has been having frequent nose bleeds, it is most likely caused by an exposed blood vessel in their nose. Even if the nose is not bleeding at the time, it is cauterized to prevent future bleeding. The different methods of cauterization include burning the affected area with acid, hot metal or lasers. Such a procedure is naturally quite painful. Sometimes liquid nitrogen is used as a less painful alternative, though it is less effective. In the few countries that permit the use of cocaine for medicinal purposes, it is occasionally used topically to make this procedure less uncomfortable; cocaine being the only local anesthetic which also produces vasoconstriction, making it ideal for controlling nosebleeds. More modern treatment uses silver nitrate, a local anesthetic is applied and the procedure is generally painless. The nose may run for up to a week after the procedure.

I am glad we went in. I was impressed that the doctor knew what HHT is. My brother Mark has major bloody nose issues with this diagnose. The doctor did not think Andrew's is that bad right now. He could have a small case of this disorder. But not too much to do about it. But good to keep an eye on it. 

Can you believe I did not take a picture of the procedure! I thought about it and then got distracted.....