Last week I got a cold sore. I'm not a coldsore person. I think I've never gotten one before, but even if I had, this one would still be worth noting. Because it wasn't just a coldsore, it was like a geological event. It was HUGE. It was right on my lip--not on the corner--on the top lip on the "peak". It was so huge that my lip had to accommodate it by swelling about 40 times its size. Now, you are thinking I'm being dramatic here but I looked like an Elephant stomped on my face.
 |
| this picture wasn't at is worst, trust me. |
I consider myself to be not too vain. (as evidenced by the fact that I'm posting the above photo). I don't mind going out with minimal make up, or admitting when I just didn't feel like showering (you know you do it!). But I went to pretty great lengths on it's worse day to avoid leaving the house. I started to feel tingling all over my face and called Spencer and told him to meet me at the pharmacy and bring some Abreva to me in the car (so I didn't have to be seen). I spent the rest of the day applying it all over my face like a crazy person. (by the way, can we talk about how it's like a tube of Barbie toothpaste, and yet it costs $16?)
So, it erupted and has been in various stages of scabbing for several days. It's gross and scratchy and 3-dimensional. So how did I learn to quit worrying and love the Coldsore?
I've had to resist from kissing anyone or anything for an entire week. Now, back in my single days, 11 years ago, going a week without kissing anybody would go un-noticed. The coldsore wouldn't, but a week without kissing back then? Easy peasy. Call off my weekend date and tell the boys I don't need dinner that week (haha, just kidding, mostly...)
But this week (and counting, by the way...not healed yet) has been sooo long and I miss using my lips so much. When my sweet baby's neck needs nuzzling, when my 4-year-old needs some snuggle-time, when the kids get home from school and I want to squeeze them and kiss them and tell them it's ok that the boy on the bus called them "lame". When my husband is anywhere near me. And a million other things.
(my lips are so lucky:)
Just imagine having endless access to baby toes, baby fingers, baby cheeks and noses and ears... And having 3 little girls that aren't too old to love kisses from their mom when they are sad or hurt or have good news or bad. There was so much kissing to do, but I had to restrain.
So, I said to this coldsore, Wow, you big, ugly thing--maybe I would have never thought about how blessed my sweet lips are to have so much to kiss. Maybe without you I would have never had to sadly turn away when my baby is trying to touch my mouth or try to welcome my husband home with no kisses or tuck my kids in at night and have to just press my cheek to theirs. Thank you, you big dumb open sore, for showing me how very very blessed my lips are.
And then I said, Okay, you stupid hunk of grossness, I got it, life lesson learned. You can go away now. But it didn't listen. Probably coldsores rarely do.
3 comments:
Cold sores are heck spawn. And you're right: you never realize how often you use your lips until you have one. Bleh. Get a perscription for Acyclovir from your dentist or dr (you should be able to just call them and request they call one in for you), and then keep it on hand. If you take it right away at the first sign (tingling weirdness) - or even at the not-so-first sign, it makes a HUGE difference. We've tried everything else, but have discovered that we're an Acyclovir family. We keep a bottle in the medicine cabinet and Ty takes one where ever he goes (he gets probably 12-15/year). I have only had 4 in my life, but that was enough. My youngest child just got one a couple months ago. Talk about sad!
As someone who's life revolved around attacks from these lip volcanoes of grossness, you have my empathy. So awful, and you're so right, the worst part is not being able to mug on all of your loves.
Does it help to know I saw you yesterday and didn't notice it?
I had one this week too! I've had them my whole life. It's a virus so you can never be entirely rid of it once you've caught it, and will crop up whenever my body undergoes severe physical or mental stress. I've learned to not stress mentally, but the physical one is harder. Like our super-dry week where my lips dried out with no chapstick around and there you have it.
Post a Comment