“Ceila, go grab me some tissues please. Right away.”
I said this to one of my dear high school students who is being a ninja for Christmas with me. I could feel it coming: a nosebleed. The kind that comes on suddenly and randomly. The one that may last for 20 or 30 minutes. Possibly even throwing clots.
This was not a good time. I was in the middle of a crazy Christmas rehearsal. I had people talking to me from all over the place. I had 20 musicians, 4 ninjas, and several technicians and a producer relying on me. I didn’t have time to sit in the bathroom leaning over the toilet until my nose decided it had run dry. Sometimes I'm jus too busy to have side effects.
Ceila brought me a box of Kleenex. How could she have known I’d need a whole box? I was several tissues in before she realized what was going on. (The boys were still oblivious.) I blew out as much as I could, standing near the garbage can to leave my bloody mess there. When it had slowed down somewhat, I rolled up a tissue and stuffed it in my nostril. Ceila said I needed a nose tampon. (Have you ever seen “She’s the Man?”)
I kept the box of tissues nearby for the rest of the night.
Ceila and the boys asked if I got hit in the face or if it was just random. Random. I looked her in the face and said, “Don’t do drugs.” Meds. One of the side effects of several of the prescription meds I’m on to help me feel better is nosebleeds. Does this make me feel better?
Ceila and the boys, my dear high school students, and I have been discussing what they are and aren’t old enough to do. (Read: what I am old enough for them to do.) Using the word “sexy,” for instance, is not something I’m ready for. Their graduation is another. While at a drama rehearsal a few months back, I told Ceila that moving away for college causes pregnancy. Maybe I’m a little overprotective.
I told them that doing drugs causes nosebleeds. Don’t do drugs, I explained. I wonder if they’ll listen.
Chris, on the other hand, is a different story. Chris has lyme disease. He is the same age as Ceila and the boys. I tell him all the time to take drugs. I guess it’s all relative.
