Oozy Crusty

Over the long weekend, I've been really busy. I could tell you about Thanksgiving, but I think I'll tell you about my eye conditions instead. It started as eczema, but it isn't anymore. I mentioned it in my last blog with, "we try to cover up my pepperoni." Unfortunately, that pepperoni has evolved into super pepperoni and got infected. Part of what makes it so terrible is that it is positioned so imperfectly on my face. I've got some on my left cheek, some on my right cheek, some on my left eyelid, and some on my neck. Because of their odd positions, the little face irritations became itchy. After scratching them all off they would heal and itch again. After this cycle continued for a while, they stopped healing and started to ooze nasty clear liquid. Then, a crusty outer edge developed. I haven't really been bothered by it but I think it started bothering other people. They'd look at my nasty eye and then back at their lasagna and become ill. Since I don't want anyone to get ill, my family and I decided to wage war on my face.

The trip to the dermatologist started with a flu shot. Because we got a shot from a nurse, and not an arthritic pharmacist like last year, my shot hurt for less than two days. I've always hated shots so I was pleased. Once we got to the dermatology building we found Dr. Olsen's personal waiting room and sat for a few minutes. The curly haired nurse called us in and I sat on the wax paper wrapped recliner. After the nurse talked with us, longer than the doctor talked to us actually, I leaned back in the chair. Almost immediately there after the door opened again to reveal Dr. Olsen himself. Right from the beginning he began assaulting me with questions about my habits. All of his questions were based off of what the nurse had asked, so I was ready. After he marveled at how it had survived the constant chlorine bathing I gave it everyday I swam, he looked menacingly at my goggles. "I think you might have a rubber allergy," he said like he had had a revelation. We tried to convince him that I had been wearing the goggles for years and it probably wasn't a rubber allergy, but he wouldn't give up. "It's a rubber allergy. Definitely rubber, here rub this on you face. I'm going to inject you with molten tire, tell me if you feel anything." That's the way I interpreted the look on his face. After some more tests he prescribed me what my dad later explained as a very powerful antibiotic. "If you have a pimple anywhere on your body, this'll get rid of it," he said with a chuckle. My prescriptions include a neck cream, a face cream, and some pills. I have to take the pills four times a day, the neck cream three times a day, and the face cream twice a day. The name of the pills is way too confusing so I call them lupin since it's written on the side of the capsules.

I woke up two days after the visit with one of my eyes crusted shut. I knew what it was before I looked in the mirror: pink eye. Now that I think of it, it makes sense I got pink eye right after I viciously rubbed my eyes multiple times the week previous. After a kid on my swim team mentioned that pink eye was caused by fecal matter in your face, I tried to think of the last time I wiped my butt with my hand and then rubbed my eye. I drew a blank and hoped that it was caused by something else. My dad had wisely kept some special drops for pink eye, so we had most of my sicknesses well under control. Slowly the strange face irritations subsided and have turned back into small blemishes. Right now everything is well on the way to recovery. I'm sorry to disgust you with this blog post, but I didn't just want to talk about Thanksgiving like everyone else. Happy first week of Advent!