A North Carolina man said he ruined his family’s thanksgiving celebrations last year when fluid unexpectedly seeped out of his nose and into the holiday dinner.
Greg Phillpotts told local television station, ABC 11, that he had gathered to celebrate the holiday and was battling with a persistent runny nose when fluid started running out of his nose.
“I was preparing a meal and standing in the kitchen and it just added itself to the ingredients — it screwed up the whole dinner,” Mr Phillpotts said.
Mr Phillpotts claimed he had been dealing with the runny nose, on and off, for five years but just assumed it was allergies.
“It could be anywhere, on the aeroplane, or you’re talking to somebody and this (fluid) just drains right out of your face,” he said.
He called it his “annual allergy” and would often turn to natural medicine to knock his symptoms on the head.
Previous doctors diagnosed him with everything from allergies to bronchitis and pneumonia.
After the thanksgiving incident, Mr Phillpotts had finally had enough and made an appointment at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, in February.
It was there that he discovered what had been leaking from his nose was actually cerebral fluid.
Doctor Alfred Iloreta found that Mr Phillpotts was suffering from a defect in the area between the brain and the nose called a cerebro spinal fluid leak.
“It’s the leakage of fluid that surrounds the brain to cushion it primarily to protect it from shock or trauma or anything like that,” Dr Alfred Iloreta, said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, patients typically complain of clear, watery fluid leaking from one side of the nose or ear.
The leakage typically occurs when a patient tilts the head or strains.
Headache, vision changes and hearing loss may also be present.
He thought it was just allergies or even just a runny nose. It turned out to be something he needed surgery for. It’s all next at 11 #ABC11 @MountSinaiNYC pic.twitter.com/Z5ZsU5s3G2
— Josh Chapin (@JoshChapinABC11) November 16, 2018
Doctors warn people to be wary of a persistent runny nose in one nostril, a salty taste associated with that fluid and an associated intense headache.
Mr Phillpotts underwent corrective surgery and said it was “a relief” to suddenly be able to breathe again.
“I was stuffing tissues up my nose,” he said. “It became normal up until February because I was up all night coughing,
“You’re sitting here, you’re a family man, you don’t want to check out of the picture when it’s something someone could readily fix.”
This story originally appeared on Fox News and has been republished here with permission.
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