It all started when I quit my job. Working at a conservative grocery store in the middle of Iowa, piercing was out of the question. We had very rigid rules about them; one hole per ear, no visible piercing, as well as piercing that weren't even visible. How they would ever find that out, I still wonder to this day. "Why Howard, your nipples look exceptionally erect today!" Because I have a tattoo on the back of my neck, I had to wear my hair down as well. Anywho, after a year and a half of stocking shelves and missing my eyebrow ring, smiley, nostril ring, wearing my septum ring down (hey what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them!) and stomach & lower back surface piercing, I decided to move on.
At A Glance Author Joseylyn Contact Joseylyn@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Spyder Studio Neon Dragon Location Iowa City, IA Upon my first day of my new job, I noticed that the person training me had her nose pierced, with a small diamond stud adorning it. At the end of the day I inquired as to whether our organization had any stipulations about body piercing. "No!" She replied, "We are all about freedom of expression here!" Hooray! My mind was racing as to which piercing I would get first as I left my first day of work.
After discussing it with my significant other, I decided I wanted to get my labret done, but off to the right side, as he had one in the center. We didn't want to be like the couples in the mall who wear the matching shirts with a picture of their dog on it.
So, since my birthday was coming up, my boyfriend inquired as to what I wanted, of course it was the piercing. Since we were going to try out a cool sushi restaurant we had heard about before we went to the party where my boyfriend was spinning house that night, we decided to get it done right before we went out to eat. I didn't think this would be a problem, since when I got my smiley done I went to McDonalds directly after that.
We were recommended by several friends to go to Spyder at Neon Dragon, so off we went. Upon arrival, the employees in the shop were very friendly, joking and very helpful. Spyder even went so far as to help my boyfriend find a large gauge septum retainer in a magazine before we started. After he was all set up, I got situated and Spyder proceeded to change his gloves approximately 97 times throughout the process. I was very pleased with this. He had two microdermals on his arm, which I inquired about as far as healing. He jokingly looked around and asked where the wire was because he was surprised I knew what they were, but I told him that was the benefit of having access to BME! He pierced me with a 14g labret stud with a tiny ball (smallest ball per my request) and made the process as painless as possible by talking to me the whole way through.
As we left, Nick paid and tipped him generously, since we were very happy with the whole experience.
In the next two weeks, I cleaned the piercing daily with sea salt & warm water solution and the healing was going beautifully. Then about 2 1/2 weeks into it, I woke up and my lip was swollen to about double the normal size. I contributed this to something being pulled into the hole or perhaps allergies. Well, after about two days and changing to a ring to let it drain better, the swelling went down. Now comes the fun part....
After the swelling went down, I woke up and noticed that the lymph nodes under my jaw on the right side were a little swollen & sore. I didn't think much of it, just that they were fighting off the infection, until that night. My entire jaw was visibly swollen and painful to the touch, so I made a Dr's appointment. He told me the infection from my lip had drained into my lymph nodes. I was given 10 days worth of antibiotics (generic Keflex) and sent on my merry way. I was taking 600mg ibuprofen ever 4 hours for the pain, but after I started getting sharp pains in my head I stopped, I was scared I was thinning my blood too much.
After about a week I still was not better, so I decided to go to another doctor. She tested me for a few different things, lo and behold, I had mono. I didn't think this would be possible since I had it almost exactly a year before, and you aren't supposed to be able to get it more than once. She told me though, that it must have been dormant in my body and it was brought back to life by the infection.
So, since then I have just been recovering from mono, keeping my piercing clean and being thankful I didn't have to take it out, or wasn't forced by a doctor to take it out. In the meantime, I can't help thinking about what I will do next...