My freshman year of high school, like many others, I was a target of an upperclassman. Quite literally.

There was a junior who, as I recall, was a real asshole. At least, I could take his punishments (at the time), so eventually the hazing stopped and a respect of sorts developed.

Yet, there was this one time in a phys ed class: for whatever reason, he thought it was funny to launch a basketball at me. From about ten feet away. In the face.

Damn. It hurt like hell.

For a moment.

Then tingles. My face was numb. For a longer moment.

Maybe something broke. Inside. No visible damage, but...

Fast forward to many, many years later. Everyday, breathing is a struggle. It seems to be getting worse. Blowing my nose feels like I’m trying to blow around a barrier. Occasionally, it stops... that hurts—and I flashback to that basketball in the face.

Perhaps a nose job will solve this problem. Allow me to breathe again. End this pain.

Perhaps.