12 November 2003
So yesterday was a wasted day.
I woke up, showered, and was just about ready to go to class when my nose started bleeding. Ah yes, warning for those who are squeamish about blood: perhaps you oughtn't read this entry. It kept bleeding, so I went to the Health Center (even though I've had plenty before and been able to take care of them myself) so that I could get an excuse from class. The doctor who saw me was really worried and referred me to an ENT specialist.
I was leery of this at first, as my nose is tres precious to me (well, isn't everyone's to everyone?) but I mean that when I have a stuffy nose, I can't function. I get extremely frustrated. But I kept bleeding, so I thought I might as well.
Took a cab to 2nd Ave and saw him. He kept spraying things up my nose and trying to cauterize the veins. Finally, after I sneezed 20 times, disrupting his work, he stuffed packing up my nose and told me to go back on Friday.
This packing did NOT suit me well. Luckily I have no classes after my morning one on Tuesdays, so Maliha made me sit and watch TV (I had a piece of gauze taped over my nose and it looked like I had gotten a nose job or some such surgery). It was entirely awful. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. You know that feeling right before you sneeze? Yeah, imagine that for six hours.
I kept trying to call my doctor, to see if I could take out the packing, as I kept bleeding through the gauze that was over my nose. Couldn't reach him. FOR SIX HOURS! I called about five times. Each time the guy who answered said he would page the doctor. Doctor never returned my pages. Not even this morning!
At about 9:30 p.m. I started panicking. I had been calm the entire day, all through having packing up my nose, gauze taped over, sneezing, bleeding. But I started worrying. Wouldn't you also, if your nose had been bleeding for 13 hours? I talked to my RA and she and Andrew accompanied me to the NYU Medical Center ER. Which was pretty pointless, because all the doctor there did was follow my orders to take out my packing and let me stop the nosebleed on my own, which I did within an hour. So, I lost blood needlessly through the entire day, couldn't taste anything needlessly, felt lethargic and dizzy for nothing.
I am so disillusioned by the medical community right now.
I woke up, showered, and was just about ready to go to class when my nose started bleeding. Ah yes, warning for those who are squeamish about blood: perhaps you oughtn't read this entry. It kept bleeding, so I went to the Health Center (even though I've had plenty before and been able to take care of them myself) so that I could get an excuse from class. The doctor who saw me was really worried and referred me to an ENT specialist.
I was leery of this at first, as my nose is tres precious to me (well, isn't everyone's to everyone?) but I mean that when I have a stuffy nose, I can't function. I get extremely frustrated. But I kept bleeding, so I thought I might as well.
Took a cab to 2nd Ave and saw him. He kept spraying things up my nose and trying to cauterize the veins. Finally, after I sneezed 20 times, disrupting his work, he stuffed packing up my nose and told me to go back on Friday.
This packing did NOT suit me well. Luckily I have no classes after my morning one on Tuesdays, so Maliha made me sit and watch TV (I had a piece of gauze taped over my nose and it looked like I had gotten a nose job or some such surgery). It was entirely awful. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. You know that feeling right before you sneeze? Yeah, imagine that for six hours.
I kept trying to call my doctor, to see if I could take out the packing, as I kept bleeding through the gauze that was over my nose. Couldn't reach him. FOR SIX HOURS! I called about five times. Each time the guy who answered said he would page the doctor. Doctor never returned my pages. Not even this morning!
At about 9:30 p.m. I started panicking. I had been calm the entire day, all through having packing up my nose, gauze taped over, sneezing, bleeding. But I started worrying. Wouldn't you also, if your nose had been bleeding for 13 hours? I talked to my RA and she and Andrew accompanied me to the NYU Medical Center ER. Which was pretty pointless, because all the doctor there did was follow my orders to take out my packing and let me stop the nosebleed on my own, which I did within an hour. So, I lost blood needlessly through the entire day, couldn't taste anything needlessly, felt lethargic and dizzy for nothing.
I am so disillusioned by the medical community right now.