Note: This is copied from my blog, and I mention getting my period. No biggie, but read no further if you can't handle some talk of cramps! (I got the piercing on April 12, 2007.)
At A Glance Author norolinde Contact norolinde@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Jen Studio Rock'n Willys Location Rutland, VT I made my appointment on Monday the ninth for Thursday the 12th ... wish I'd remembered that's the first real day of my period, the one that hits me super-hard and has me in bed curled up. Oops.
This definitely held true on Thursday. I woke up at eight and made sure I went to breakfast (I've been sleeping through it for the past few weeks), and went to lunch at noon. I'd packed my backpack/overnight bag already. I had class at one, so I headed to the room about quarter of and sat down. I felt HORRIBLE. I was cramping and sweating. Thankfully, I'd thrown some raspberry tea bags into my bag, and there were some styrofoam cups over by the water cooler, so I made myself some tea. It helped immensely. I was even pretty much the only person to participate in class, despite how I felt.
Normally, after that class on the Thursdays I get my period, I go back to my room and curl into a little ball for a few hours to recuperate, but instead I headed outside with my heavy backpack into the rain/snow wearing my sweatshirt and waited for Loupi to show up. We were supposed to meet at 2:20, but he was a little late, and I crawled into the car. I looked kind of like someone had drained a bunch of normal color out of me, because I was kind of sallow. Fun.
We went to the bank, where I cashed the check my mom had written me (I'd paid my return deposit, so she owed me) and took out thirty bucks in fives. I already had an Easter $50, so I figured that would cover the entire piercing and a few other things.
Loupi went to the gas station, fueled up, and we were on our way. During the entire car ride, I could tell I really felt funny. It's hard to explain, but ... it's kind of like I was out of my head a little. The snow right in front of the car looked far away. Basically, I was having difficulty with distances, and my head felt weird -- not a headache, but like I was far away myself.
We got to the mall around 3:15 and I went straight to the bathroom, where I proceeded to ... well, be a little sick. Yay periods. I felt better after, though, so that was good. We then went to Kay, where I took my ring in for its 6-month checkup. It passed, yay. I've had it for like, a year now. Then we went to Waldenbooks, where Loupi pre-ordered the last Harry Potter book. I decided maybe I needed sugar, so I bought four truffles and gave Loupi two. Having eaten those, and since it was ten minutes before my appointment, we headed over to Rock'n Willys.
The girl at the counter (not the piercer) who had answered my questions when I'd come in the week before was there, and handed me the paperwork to fill out. I was able to truthfully initial next to most of the things they needed me to verify, except one. When I got to the "you have not eaten in two hours" line, I paused. Then I decided truffles didn't count, and initialed it. I also paid at that time, and was given my bag of sea salt. She made a copy of my passport, where she verified my age, and then told me my jewelry was being sterilized and it would take ten minutes, so I could get something to eat or something.
I was a little surprised by that, since she'd shown me the piercing jewelry the week before and it wasn't all the same, and I hadn't picked any jewelry at that time, but I was a little spacey so I didn't argue. I went to sit down on a bench outside the store, and Loupi went into the Gamestop/EB Games. I called my mom, who immediately asked if I'd gotten it done, and she prattled on for ten minutes while I half-paid attention, and then told her I had to go. I collected Loupi and we went back in. The piercer was there, and she took us into the back room.
She asked me if I'd heard the piercing guidelines before, and since I had when Loupi got his labret pierced back in late 2005, I dazedly said yes. She had me sign the papers then without going back over them -- it had been a good year and a half, but again, I was a bit too spaced out to ask her to repeat them.
She had me climb up into the chair (no small feat for a short chick), and we joked about the height of the chair for a minute. She put on gloves, then explained what she was going to do, showing me the forceps, the autoclaved jewelry, etc. Even though I hadn't picked the jewelry, she'd picked a titanium base with a clear gem on the end -- perfect! Then she wiped the inside and outside of my nose with what I assume was iodine -- she and Loupi asked if it smelled, but it didn't. Then she marked my nose and had me hop out of the chair to check the placement. I was a little iffy on it, and Loupi thought it should be a bit closer to my face, so she re-marked it and it was fine then. She also asked me how I was doing, and I said I'd been sort of light-headed all day, but I wasn't sure how to fix it.
She had me shut my eyes and told me to keep my hands away from my face, because she didn't want to poke me in the wrong place. I stuck my arms through the sides of the chair and had Loupi hold my right hand. From the research I'd done online, a ton of people said it didn't hurt, so I thought I'd be fine.
So. Wrong. She had me inhale, and as I exhaled she stuck the needle in. It hurt SO MUCH. I don't know how to describe it other than a fierce pressure and, like ... burning ... kind of like how the dentist says you'll just feel some pressure and then they take your tooth out and you're wishing the laughing gas was a hell of a lot stronger? Like that, sort of. It was actually kind of ridiculous, and Loupi says I grabbed his hand pretty tight, but the piercer said I didn't flinch at all. She left the needle in my nose so she could grab the jewelry. She took the needle out and put the jewelry in -- which also hurt, but not quite as much.
At that point, she put a paper towel in my hands, which meant I was free to move them and wipe my eyes, which had thankfully only teared a bit. I opened my eyes. My nose was probably throbbing, and my heart was racing. She asked me how I was doing. I don't even remember what I said -- probably that I wanted to stay sitting. I asked how big the jewelry was, and if it looked okay. They both said it was pretty small and it looked good.
After a few minutes, she asked if a lollipop might help, and I jumped on that. Sugar at that point = good. Thinking back on it, my blood sugar probably was low anyway -- I really ought to get checked by a doctor and diagnosed. Once I had the Dum-Dum in my mouth, things started to settle back in. She kept me in the chair for a few minutes more, and then had me hop out to look. I'm sort of surprised I didn't fall down, but I got to the mirror okay and said it looked weird. Of course, I wasn't used to it or anything. The gem was bigger than I'd thought it was going to be, but I was probably in some form of shock. :) We went out to the front, where she circled aftercare instructions on a sheet (a good thing, since I'd forgotten EVERYTHING she'd told me before) and I gave her a tip. $46 (piercing) + $15 tip = $61, but worth it for quality and professionalism.
Ironically, she actually remembered us too, from when she'd done Loupi's piercing -- seriously, a year and a half ago. I was impressed! We'd been into the shop multiple times since then, but she'd never inquired about the labret (he had to retire it), so I figured she didn't remember. She even remembered that we'd been dating like, two weeks at that point. I let her know we were engaged, and she was cutely happy for us. She told me to go get a Coke and to eat dinner ASAP, and we thanked her and left.
We walked over to the food court and I had Loupi get us Cokes. I sat and waited for him, and took a picture with my phone and sent it to my mom and sister. My sister immediately texted back and said it looked fake. Gee, thanks. My mom called, and I chatted with her for a bit, and sat and drank my soda. Loupi said I still looked pale, but I was trying to be my regular self.
After a bit, I got up and wanted to go shopping -- I'd made a list for that day, and only two things had gotten done! I went into the sports store to find a splash guard for my Nalgene, which they didn't carry. While I was in there, Loupi had bought me a small square of milk chocolate, which I took about two bites of. I think that's the most accurate gague of how I was feeling -- I turned down CHOCOLATE! I went to Victoria's Secret and got a free pair of underwear and bought a pair, and went to K-mart and bought some distilled water for my sea salt soaks and some Gatorade for rehydration purposes.
Loupi went to get the car so I wouldn't have to walk all the way back, and while I was sitting on the bench, I encountered a boy and his dad. His dad was on the pay phone, but the kid was cute. He took his new swimsuit out of the bag and was so excited to show it to me. We chatted for a bit, and then they left. It was snowing again, and I lugged everything out to the car. Loupi had to go grocery shopping for dinner (most of which was thankfully being cooked in the crockpot even as I got pierced), and we wandered around Hannaford's for a bit.
I did the required wash-with-soap, and two sea salt soaks that night. Everything seemed to be doing fine -- after I showered, it was a little red, so I've learned to do a SSS after I shower and I'll be good. I ended up sleeping in the bed, and Loupi on the floor, and I swear, I woke myself up every hour to make sure the damn thing was still in my nose. Consequently, I didn't sleep too well.
We got back to GMC about 3:30 on Friday, and I tried doing another SSS in a wide-mouthed mug. It just wasn't working, so I've decided I'm going to do them as hot compresses instead. It just doesn't seem right sticking my nose in Keke's mugs twice a day.
It was fine when I went to bed last night (a good size -- it's not sinking in, even though I can't tell if my nose is still swollen), and I slept almost like a baby (when I finally went to bed -- yes, I was looking at nostil screws online until 2 AM). I woke up a bit before ten, which was good, because it was half-hanging out of my nose! Since I was still half asleep, I pushed it back in without really looking or being terribly gentle -- ouch! My nose was throbbing something awful, but no blood, so that's good. I fell asleep for another hour and a half, and woke up and cleaned it with soap. It was a bit red, and there's a small bump that I'm hoping is going to go away, and it almost fell out again when I was cleaning it -- thankfully I was not in front of the sink. I've been leaving it alone, but when I'm done with this entry, I'm going to go do a SSS compress.
It's a bit sore if I wiggle my nose, but I'm still healing, so that's to be expected. I seriously need to stop touching it. It's paranoia that it's fallen out! So far, so good, though.
UPDATE 4/30: The nostril piercing is doing just fine. I ended up falling two days after I got pierced, and managed to (thankfully) avoid my nose! I had a bump for a while, but sea salt soaks and some pressure with a q-tip made it go away. I ended up buying some H2Ocean the other day, and have almost exclusively been using that. No irritation, no pain, no bump -- now I just can't wait the 3+ weeks to change jewelry!