nose bleed

kim50
kim50 Member Posts: 34
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
have any of ya'll gotten a nosebleed after treatment? i finshed treatment last year and cetuximab recently. This morning I had a real severe nosebleed in the nostril on the side of face that had the cancer last year , blood everywhere. My nose has been real stuffed on that side lately , but I didn't think I was blowing it too hard .
Help, I'm a little scared cbeause that's how I knew I had cancer last year in my nasal cavity, because of a bloody nose. I just had an MRI last week. Could something have chaged on there in 9 days???

Comments

  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #2
    try not to be upset
    Some cancers present themselves as nosebleeds but lots of things cause nosebleeds, especially the crazy weather we've had all over the country this past week. Too dry some places, too wet everywhere else.

    I'm assuming the MRI was clean, kim? Whether it was or not, come Monday morning give your doctor a call and explain what happened. Ask to be seen. They may want to take another look at the MRI and you'll all feel better then.

    Most of all, don't panic! I'm thinking all the tissues are sensitive and prone to bleeding following treatment - the tissues in your nasal passage are very thin to start with - treatment is going to make them more thin.

    Take a deep breath, call your doctor Monday and in the meantime, try, try, try not to blow your nose at all.

    If you start having another heavy nosebleed, go to the Emergency Room. They may not be great at knowing exactly what to do for cancer patients in many cases, but nosebleeds and loss of blood they DO know how to handle.
  • kim50
    kim50 Member Posts: 34
    #3
    Noellesmom said:

    try not to be upset
    Some cancers present themselves as nosebleeds but lots of things cause nosebleeds, especially the crazy weather we've had all over the country this past week. Too dry some places, too wet everywhere else.

    I'm assuming the MRI was clean, kim? Whether it was or not, come Monday morning give your doctor a call and explain what happened. Ask to be seen. They may want to take another look at the MRI and you'll all feel better then.

    Most of all, don't panic! I'm thinking all the tissues are sensitive and prone to bleeding following treatment - the tissues in your nasal passage are very thin to start with - treatment is going to make them more thin.

    Take a deep breath, call your doctor Monday and in the meantime, try, try, try not to blow your nose at all.

    If you start having another heavy nosebleed, go to the Emergency Room. They may not be great at knowing exactly what to do for cancer patients in many cases, but nosebleeds and loss of blood they DO know how to handle.

    Thank you,
    I'm trying real
    Thank you,
    I'm trying real hard not to panic. My MRI actually showed the tumor is still there, it had grown some so we'll try another treatment. That was last week. But the nosebleed like this hasn't happened in a long time. i finished the cetuximab 2 weeks ago.

    Thanks for the encouragement,
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #4
    Thin tissue in nose
    Blood vessel tears in the nose can cause heavy nose bleeds as well. I agree with nolesmom, call doctor on Monday and ask to be seen. My son use to get spontaneous nose bleeds when he was 6 and I would freak out because there were so much blood it looked like an artery had been cut. The emergency room did nothing but stop the bleeding and refer to an ENT. The ENT cauterized the tear and he never had one again. Hopefully that is all yours is.

    Blessings
    Debbie
  • Ed_PortOrange
    Ed_PortOrange Member Posts: 110
    #5
    I also experienced blood in my throat during a check-up with my ENT. My Rad/Onco doctor moved up a scheduled CT and did a CT-PET which came back NED. He attributed that the bleeding probably was caused by surface blood vessels which have become very brittle from the extensive radiation treatments. With me this has been the only time it's happened and I'm 18 months post treatment.

    Healthy Prayers,
    Ed
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #6
    Blowing your Nose is a no no
    Kim; first please stop blowing your nose, because there are too many damage blood vessels in there from the rad treatment, If you do need to blow make is soft and easy. I have nose bleeding now and then still 6 years after treatment, sometime it is because the air is too dry or a vain will crack and bleed. It is nothing to worry about and is normal if you did treatment to the face.

    Take care
    Hondo
  • seenanN
    seenanN Member Posts: 24
    #7
    kim50 said:

    Thank you,
    I'm trying real
    Thank you,
    I'm trying real hard not to panic. My MRI actually showed the tumor is still there, it had grown some so we'll try another treatment. That was last week. But the nosebleed like this hasn't happened in a long time. i finished the cetuximab 2 weeks ago.

    Thanks for the encouragement,

    Nose bleed
    Hi Kim,
    As you mentioned the tumor is still there and had grown making me wonder if the tumor was removed before the second treatment? if it was then the bleeding might be by the thin tissue and if not please contact your ENT as well as your medical doctor immediately. I did not have severe nose bleed after treatment but my tumor grown so fast blocking my airway and caused a lot of bleeding.
    Please take care,

    seenan
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #8
    kim50 said:

    Thank you,
    I'm trying real
    Thank you,
    I'm trying real hard not to panic. My MRI actually showed the tumor is still there, it had grown some so we'll try another treatment. That was last week. But the nosebleed like this hasn't happened in a long time. i finished the cetuximab 2 weeks ago.

    Thanks for the encouragement,

    Hi Kim
    If the tumor or part of the tumor is still there then yes it is possibly bleeding. As in my case it would bleed what looked like a ton of blood, suggest if that is what is bleeding call your ENT right away and let him take a look. In the mean time pack it down with ice and whatever you do don’t blow your nose.

    Wishing you well
    Hondo
  • kim50
    kim50 Member Posts: 34
    #9
    Hondo said:

    Blowing your Nose is a no no
    Kim; first please stop blowing your nose, because there are too many damage blood vessels in there from the rad treatment, If you do need to blow make is soft and easy. I have nose bleeding now and then still 6 years after treatment, sometime it is because the air is too dry or a vain will crack and bleed. It is nothing to worry about and is normal if you did treatment to the face.

    Take care
    Hondo

    Well I guess I'm terrified
    Well I guess I'm terrified now. Could something have changed in one week??? i just had the MRI last week. I've been stopped up and picking at my nose, but who knows. Now I'll worry myself to death.
  • seenanN
    seenanN Member Posts: 24
    #10
    kim50 said:

    Well I guess I'm terrified
    Well I guess I'm terrified now. Could something have changed in one week??? i just had the MRI last week. I've been stopped up and picking at my nose, but who knows. Now I'll worry myself to death.

    don't be
    Hi Kim,
    Sorry to make you worry and please calm down. Think of nose bleeding is a signal that your body tries to send you so you can take proper steps to get rid of the abnormalities.

    seenan
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #11
    kim50 said:

    Well I guess I'm terrified
    Well I guess I'm terrified now. Could something have changed in one week??? i just had the MRI last week. I've been stopped up and picking at my nose, but who knows. Now I'll worry myself to death.

    Hi Kim
    A lot of your problems could be something else, as you stated you blow your nose and you are picking your nose. During and after radiation treatment all the blood vessels become very easy to bleed because the rad treatment does damage them. But it is nothing to worry about because they do stop all by themselves, just like a normal nose bleed. If the bleeding is coming from the tumor that is a different thing and needs to be check by your ENT as soon as you can see him. So calm down and don’t worry yourself to death, you are not going to die. I bled like a stabbed pig and did not die and my blood was coming from my tumor and it was a week or so later before I could get in to see my ENT.

    Take is slow and try to enjoy your week-end, if you need to talk call me.
    Hondo
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #12
    Kim,
    sounds like your nose
    Kim,

    sounds like your nose is dry. Do you have a cold humidifier? Use saline spray (sold in drug store) or neti pot to sooth and moisten. Most of all, stop picking your nose, that just damages the vessels more. When your nose bleeds, use ice pack to stop. CAlm down and breathe slow all will be well.

    Debbie
  • waywest
    waywest Member Posts: 44
    #13
    kim50 said:

    Well I guess I'm terrified
    Well I guess I'm terrified now. Could something have changed in one week??? i just had the MRI last week. I've been stopped up and picking at my nose, but who knows. Now I'll worry myself to death.

    Excessive bleeding - side effect
    Hi Kim,
    My husband went through an episode like this, unfortunately in his case it was a major artery and the bleeding did not stop which required surgery. I was not aware of this as a side effect until the doctors explained that because the original tumour site received the bulk of the radiation, the arteries at the site were damaged and this caused an embolism which ruptured. When I posted his episode, I was surprised at the number of people who had similar experiences. In most cases,they were minor arteries that repaired themselves over time without surgical intervention. The ENT did think originally that it may have been caused by existing or continual growth of the tumour but there was no evidence of cancer - just collateral damage from radiation. If the bleeding persists see if the ENT will cauterize and don't worry too much about it. My husbands embolism was growing for months and they didn't catch it until it ruptured. They just assumed it was cancer and scheduled him for another catscan. Far as I can tell from diagrams, there are no major arteries located in the nose so don't let it scare you as horrible as it may seem.

    Way
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #14
    anyone heard from Kim?
    Was hoping to see a post by now.

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