0106

Last night, my nose bled three times in two hours.

Savage.

I suspect it was due to a combination of the flu I have had since last week (I blow my nose really hard sometimes) and the lethal portion of fried food I ate the night before. Too much going on, too much.

I used to fear nosebleeds like the plague. When I was 5/6, I literally threw up blood and had to be hospitalised for a week. I also remember getting blood transfusions… It was that bad. Until I was 18, every nosebleed I got would remind me of this traumatic episode – which made matters worse because then I would start crying and the blood would trickle down my throat. This was usually the time I would panic since any moment now, I might just projectile-vomit crimson goop. It’s a huge psychological barrier for me to overcome.

I am a lot calmer at handling nosebleeds these days – pinch my nose and focus on an inanimate object for 10 minutes – but I still shudder at the mental flashbacks of blood-soaked bedsheets and ruby-red puddles on my bedroom floor. The tear dam, thankfully, has held up well since.