Stitches...a pain that heals

June 9th,  I went into the dermatology office to get some moles removed and a cyst/nodule thing removed from my neck.  I was kind of nervous, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  After two minutes of being in the office, I was screaming just from the stupid local anesthetic.  An hour later I left with an inch of stitches on my neck right where the collar of a shirt is located, and stitches on my waist right under the belt line.


Pictures were taken June 18th , it looked MUCH worse than it did here.

 

A close-up of the neck

I have had a lot of different pains and annoyance's in my life, but these ones were SOO frustrating.  What didn't hurt before was causing me so much irritation and pain.  At first, sharp pains would shoot up and down my neck (I think a nerve ending was hit or something).  Sleeping was frustrating because a touch of either area hurt and so it took forever finding a comfortable way to sleep.  Sean was a gem and bandaged my neck, but the bandage welted my skin and caused a layer of redness and breakdown.  So for the last two weeks we've been lotioning the skin breakdown and neosporin'ing the wound.  For thirteen days I have been frustrated and annoyed by an inch of irritated, infected, sewn skin.

I feel a little ridiculous for complaining about such a trivial matter.

For the last week I've been wanting to blog about this new added beauty in my life, however I didn't because every time I did I thought of someone who has it worse than me.  For example, Stephanie Nielson. 
http://lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&query=stephanie+nielson#2010-05-10-my-new-life
      A woman who probably experiences the worst pain in the world due to her skin.  Yet look how she has triumphed!

Getting on with the story, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep (like I do every night) and I couldn't.  Even after 12 hours of work, making dinner, and watching a show with Sean, I still could not fall asleep.  Naturally, I logged into facebook and read all the updates about "dad's."  A sledge hammer hit my heart.

It is the one day of the year that reminds me I don't have a dad. 

Every single year in the past 11 years I have absolutely hated Father's day.  I felt the pain in my heart and tossed in bed.  There it was again, those darn stitches yelling at me, "Owe!!! Get off!" 

The death of my father was a large "stitch" in my life.  It was a part of Heavenly Father's plan to lead to a greater healing.  The healing of my family.  This sentence is loaded.  You'd have to understand my family dynamics to fully comprehend the meaning of this statement.  My father died so that my family could heal.  The pain from his death was unbearable.  For the last 11 years, Father's day was just salt in a wound.  And though I miss him nearly every day of every year, I know that losing him provided a greater gain.

Maybe next year I will be glad it is father's day.  I do have a father.  And he is wonderful.

And I know Tara and Andrea wanted pics of my glasses.  I have one...



This is a pic taken on my birthday, June 5th.  Our family is together and healed.  :D



 Stitches came out today and sure enough, a large puffy infection.  I get to go on antibiotics for the next couple days!  But I know I'm on the road to healing and all is well.