Its time I put the itchy nipple to rest! I realize it has been close to a year since my fingers hit the keys to purge my thoughts in my blog. Apparently others have noticed too as I have been questioned many times. In particular there are some people who want to know about the itchy nipple. So to pull people from hanging on the edge of the cliff and to ease those who lay in bed at night wondering, “Hmmm, what happened to her itchy nipple?” You’re welcome!
Almost a year ago to this day I was hanging with the girls I grew up with, some starting in the middle school years and some high school. Just like in any group there are those who stay connected more consistently and those who catch up and fall into place when we gather. Regardless, I think we crave our gatherings and look forward to them every two years. It should be less than every two years, but that thing called “life” gets in the way as well as the miles between us. I think it is fair to say we cover all of the time zones, well minus one, that goofy Mountain Time area.
On this trip we gathered in an unbelievable house on a lake. When we have our gatherings we tend to nest and not leave where we are staying, so the digs need to be the bomb! So far we have never been disappointed.
Shortly upon our arrival I announced to the group that I had an itchy nipple and I would be grabby my left one throughout the trip, so apologizes in advance. This led me to keeping my hands as busy as possible doing other things in order to prevent milking my left boob! At one point, I arranged plates of food on the island, splayed the napkins beautifully into a fan shape, organized the silverware and then I heard, “Look at Martha Stewart!” No mam, I was not Martha, I was trying to allow my left nipple to survive before I pulled it off!
Eventually one of the gals mentioned this could be a sign of a certain type of breast cancer. Yes, my mind went briefly to the people I care about and love who I have lost as well as those who were currently at battle. Was I on my way to be in one of those groups? Honestly, this was a brief thought as I tend to bury those kinds of thoughts, which I have learned I shouldn’t do as they haunt me later and end up biting me in the butt!
Needless to say by the end of the weekend I was hooked up with a local doc to go see within a day of my return home, thanks to one of the girls using her hubby’s connections.
The appointment was like any other. Meet the nurse, step on the scale, wear the blood pressure cuff and then sit and wait. Once the doctor stepped in we chatted, talked about my history and then it was time to get on the table. So arms overhead, bifocals on the doc and hands feeling away, there I was. For a brief moment I felt one with a piece of meat getting tenderized. Then the doc looked at my nipple with such scrutiny. I wondered if it was starting to morph into something else. Similar to when I repeat a word over and over again and then the sound of the word and the sensation of it leaving my lips feels like an entirely new experience.
Then the questions came. “Are you using a new soap, lotion, or laundry detergent?” Uh, nope, I’m a creature of habit and likes. I don’t deviate too much there. “Any major changes in your life?” Um, at that point for the past year I had accumulated a bucket load of change! Then it hit me! Minutes earlier when I stepped onto the scale with the nurse, I weighed more than I had in several years. As I lay there I felt how uncomfortable my pants were as they pressed tightly in the new baggage around my waist. Yes, even with arms reaching out and my torso stretching…my jeans were still acting as a girdle! The “ah ha” moment then happened!
Going moments back into the discussion occurring between the four walls, I referenced the recent depression episode I shared with the doc. I had described to her how my entire body tends to shut down during those episodes including my desire and thought to eat. So here is what happened…I somewhat quickly lost about 15 pounds in a short period of time, but then once I was back to the “best me” and my body told me to eat I gained a total of 25 pounds in a short period of time. So with my report and my doc’s knowledge, we discovered I shrunk and then stretched out my nipple so rapidly it had no choice to scream in agony as it was forced to move in a pace it wasn’t accustomed to.
Yes, I know what one may say, ‘”Don’t you have two nipples?”
Why yes I do, but in the words of Ani DiFranco:
“Buildings and bridges are made to bend in the wind to withstand the world that’s what it takes. All that steel and stone are no match for the air, my friend. What doesn’t bend breaks, what doesn’t bend breaks.”
My right nipple may have already learned the importance of flexibility and adaptation!
Rise & Shine
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