1.344 bleeding

Sometimes, lying in bed not quite asleep, I get a feeling as if I need more air, and take a big gasp. I got curious about this. Is it a sign my heart is not delivering enough oxygen? I wonder what my O2 sat percent is? A couple days ago I ordered a $20 pulse/o2 meter off Amazon.

Kept it by the bed. In the night, realized I was having that feeling, so fumbled around and put the meter on. 95% O2. Not short at all.

The device is well worth $20, nicely made and functional. Its only flaw is that the screen is very bright, much too bright for comfort in the middle of the night.

Tuesday 11/10/2020

Did Victoria’s aerobics at 7:30 and at the end found myself quite tired. Decided not to go for a walk.

Lazed around until, near noon, I noticed I had a nosebleed from my right nostril. I have often had spontaneous nosebleeds in the past; they usually clot up and quit in ten minutes or less. Unfortunately at the moment, because of all the stents, I am taking Clopidogrel (“Plavix”) which is an anti-clotting drug. So the bleed didn’t clot. As long as I stayed in my easy chair with my head back, I could read and not make a mess, but if I turned my head down or even very horizontal, I would start leaking blood down my moustache.

About 3:30 I decided I needed help. Rather than going direct for Urgent Care, I visited our in-house nursing station, but they couldn’t offer anything other than to pack the nostril with gauze. Thanks, I can pack it very well with scrunched up toilet paper. So, off to Urgent Care in the Channing House car.

The doctor there verified it was an “anterior bleed” coming off the side of the septum, but he didn’t want to do anything to it. “You cauterize it, and a couple days later the scab is disturbed and you’re right back to square one.” All he could do was to pack it with a stiff gauze tube like a tampon, which hurt like bloody HELL going in. Turns out my septum isn’t straight like normal septums. Did I ever break my nose? Not that I recall? Anyway, that stiff little tampon presses and pretty much stops the flow of blood. He also put in a referral to ENT. I should get a call tomorrow to schedule that, but I have so many appointments this week (well, three) it is going to be touch scheduling it.

So I have a compress up my nostril which seeps bloody snot. I am keeping my COVID mask on, with a folded kleenex, to sop up the seepage. I believe I shall have to sleep sitting up tonight; If I roll over on that right side, one, it is going to hurt, and two, if it doesn’t, it is going to sop into my pillow and sheets.

I feel decidedly tired and will be going to bed early.