Nose-bleeds that could kill

I used to nose-bleed a lot when I was small.  At some point it became routine. The nose-bleeding would occur without any trigger and I would just feel some strange sensations inside my nose before the bleeding began.  And when puberty hit and my menses started, they were very heavy.

With no logical explanation for my frequent nosebleeds, many started blaming witchcraft. In 2002, my younger brother developed the same problem. He once nose-bled until he became unconscious.

He was hspitalised for one month at Kenyatta National Hospital and while there, the doctors diagnosed the condition as von Willebrand disorder. When I went to visit my brother in hospital, I had one of my nose-bleeds and the doctors decided to test me. That is how I got to know that I had von Willebrand disorder.

A tooth extraction, two months admission

My father also has von Willebrand disease. But until 2002, he never knew that the bleedings that he endured was a medical condition. One time when he went for a tooth extraction, he bled too much and was admitted in hospital for two months.

Before medics told me how to manage the disease, my nose would just bleed and stop on its own. Using handkerchiefs would not help. There are times that I bled for so long that I would become unconscious. I would be taken to hospital and given fluids and sometimes blood transfusion.

Management

I now have ways of managing the bleeds. I have two drugs, a nasal spray and a tablet. For my menses, I was initially put on family planning drugs to regulate the bleeding, but that didn’t help. Now, when my monthly periods last too long or are too heavy, I go to the hospital where I get blood transfusions done. If an adult goes to hospital with a bleed, which is treated for about 3 days, they will spend between Sh150,000 and Sh200,000 per day.

I wish more people would know about this condition and learn how to control it. It often goes undiagnosed and lowers their life quality.