The Herpes
I’m a little disturbed that as much of my time is spent talking about, explaining, complaining about my symptoms and my many sicknesses, but hey, welcome to my world. No one cares if you’re ill. The world keeps turning. Money has to be made. Life has to be carved out where you can find it. I try to enjoy the weeks where I feel good, knowing there are ones coming that will knock me on my ass. I am more thankful by the day that I can work from home and go lie down when I need to.
(Ignore the dude, the sound clip is as close as I could get to that bit of the show)(Although, when I first heard this, that was essentially my reaction. Yeah, I felt like the first and only person to ever get The Herpes)
J found a new cure for me. I have several symptoms of immune system problems. When I’m having a particularly bad time, my cold sores kick in like mad. I get them in singles, then in groups of two, back to back. Where other people may experience herpes as a mild irritation they tend to ignore, I get hit with flu like symptoms, swollen glands, headaches, a complete lack of energy. My sores aren’t a minor blister, either. They are crusty and disfiguring, causing the entire area affected to swell, redden and burst open. And I haven’t even discussed the combined pain and itch. Talk to your kids about STDs. Seriously. I was incredibly naive.
But! J heard about a treatment involving juniper berries. I’ve tried a lot of things. The wonderful ointments and creams meant to lessen the extent of the sores only sort of work for me. A homemade combination of lemon balm and Blue Star ointment did well for a while, but it was like burning the sores off of my face. I was thrilled there might be a tea, even if J wasn’t sure I’d be able to choke it down. I drink his medicine tea. I figured I could handle this.
J mixed a batch at half strength and tried the first sip. He declared there would be no way I could drink it. I chugged it down like a champ. And I think that for several hours afterward my symptoms were improved. My sore seems to be healing faster this time. I won’t trust it until I’ve had multiple chances to try the treatment.
We pulled apart the pool and found lady beetles living inside the poles. They were so thick that I could tap them out into piles. The flood! (No? Maybe you never played Halo? I feel sorry for you.)
Enjoy the corn. They’re cutting today…
