So how was you nite?

Mine was interesting - to say the least...

** Warning: this may not be suitable for the faint of heart...or those that faint at the hint of blood**

Our weekend was for the most part, great; nothing out of the ordinary for December, just a "normal" Saturday that included house & yard work, some gift wrapping and some family movie time. Sunday began with Bible Study, followed by Church services and rehearsal for the children's choir. Thanks to our crock pot we returned home to a delicious roast beef dinner. I often think a crock pot is the closest I'll ever get to a personal chef. It cooks the meals I want, the way I like them, yet they do all the work while I go about my day.

Afternoon was a nap for Harry and a rest period for Skip, while I putzed around on the computer. Mike remembered he needed to bring something out to the boat and went outside to take care of it, only to return shortly thereafter, with a nosebleed. Initially he said it was because he bumped it (which he did - being his normal graceful self) but later said he thought it was because he had sneezed REALLY hard a few minutes before that...In any case, he bled, it stopped, end of story. Or was it?

We spent some family time when the kids were done resting, then returned to Church for evening services and rehearsal for the Christmas program. When we got home again Mike noticed his nose was bleeding again and hurried inside to take care of it. By the time the kids and I got inside it was like a war zone. The ENTIRE bathroom sink was covered in blood - which just poured - and I mean poured - from his nose. He couldn't tilt his head back because it was coming out so fast it was choking him. He told me to call 911 and about 10 minutes later the EMT arrived and took him to the hospital. I followed the ambulance and about 30 minutes later they had me go back to wait with him. By then the bleeding was almost done, but he said it continued to trickle in the back of his throat. He still hadn't even be seen by anyone except the nurse who took his vitals and the person who drew some blood. An hour later, just about the time he said he was feeling like he should just quietly check himself out since he felt fine and wasn't bleeding, he coughed - then sneezed - then began to spew blood. It was like a B-rated horror movie with blood spewing in an almost surreal manner. I went and got a nurse, who took one look at him and ran to get the doctor. He took a look at the mess, left for a second and returned with full armour - face guard, protective clothing, etc. He and two nurses spent the next 45 min or so trying to control the gusher and finally inserted a nasal balloon in the hope it would stop it. It did, thankfully, but because of the amount of blood loss they kept us there several more hours to be sure it didn't start up again, and so they could monitor his blood pressure.

We finally got home around 2:00 a.m. Mike slept in the recliner in the living room, and I slept on the reclining couch, in case he had a problem during the "night" (a.k.a the few hours between the time we got to sleep - around 2:30 and the time the boys internal clocks went off at 7. Today he's pretty miserable, but can't really do anything for it. He has an appointment with an ENT tomorrow afternoon, but in the meantime, will have to hope the tylenol can take the edge off.

We're thankful that he's home, that Levi was here to stay with the boys so we didn't have to bring them with us, and that the bleeding is stopped for now. Since we don't really know what caused such a severe episode, please join us in praying that this isn't due to any major health issues, and that he's back to work in a day or two!

I'll spare you pictures of the nosebleed, but leave y'all with some shots of the guys enjoying the Saturday nite movie.