My nose

I got my nose pierced fro my 27th birthday. I've wanted it done since I was 16 and just never got around to it and for the first time in the past 4 years I'm not pregnant or nursing so here I am world...pierced. Here's my story:

Wes and I were on a date the Thursday before my birthday. We had no idea what we wanted to do. We drove around a bit flipping a coin to see where to turn next, that got boring so I suggested we have appetizers one place, entrees somewhere else and desert somewhere fun. We were bouncing restaurant ideas back and forth then out of nowhere I proclaimed "I know what I want to do tonight!" Wes said "Awesome! What?" "I want to go get my nose pierced." Wes loved it, we decided to go to Manceinos for dinner (they have a great veggie grinder) and we got hot wings. I didn't want the poor piercer to have to deal with hot wing breath so we went home so I could brush my teeth and make sure my nose was sufficiently booger free.

We went to Tattoo Charlie's where Billy told me to sit back and relax, the anticipation was the worse part. I sat back and desperately tried to believe him as he cleaned my nose with the awfulest smelling stuff then grabbed a q-tip and cleaned the inside, trying to lighten the mood I said "Man I thought that stunk on the outside of my nose!" [insert mixture of sympathy and nervous laughter here]

I closed my eyes and he then put a clamp on my nose, the kind that doctors use that look like scissors and have a round tip and every time you squeeze it it locks a little bit tighter, it was so tight I thought that maybe, just maybe, that hurt so bad I won't even notice the needle....let me just say I noticed it. He took a needle that was about 8 feet long and pushed it through the inside of my nose. He turned to grab the labret and I opened my eyes to see this huge needle protruding from my face, that was a mistake. I closed my eyes and he said, "I'm going to put the jewelry in but you'll barely notice it." He pushed the needle out with the base of the labret that basically looks like a 16 gauge thumb tack and screwed a tiny ball to the outside. I said "You're a liar."

My eye was watering like crazy and Billy told me that was normal and happens to everyone. He then proceeded to tell me the ins and outs of keeping my piercing infection free for the next 8 weeks. The room was spinning. I was desperately trying to absorb every detail he was saying but my focus was being pulled away by my fight to stay conscious. He ended with "Do you have any questions?" I replied "I think I'm going to be sick...that wasn't a question." He told me to lay back and turned a fan on me.

He left and I closed my eyes and thought about how lame I must look. This is silly, I have just eaten so my blood sugar if great, there is no reason for me to feel bad. I opened my eyes and the things on the walls were swimming....I closed my eyes and laid back. Okay. Breath, yeah, oxygen, I need more oxygen, just breath, deep pilates breaths, good...okay. I opened my eyes again and still everything was swimming, I looked at the tile floor and thought about how lame it would be to try to stand up from a simple nose piercing and end up on the floor of Tattoo Charlie's. So I closed my eyes again. This is ridicules. I cannot pass out in front of all these tough guys! Nut up! I have given birth 3 times! I opened my eyes and Billy walked back in. I said "Can he pay?" pointing to Wes. He said yeah. I quickly walked around the counter and got the keys from Wes, made eye contact with no one and headed out the door.

I had never been so happy to be in the cold rain. I took my jacket off sat in the car and laid the seat all the way back. Wes came out a moment later and asked if I was alright. I said I would me in a few minutes. He asked me if I still wanted to go to the bakery we were planning on going to and I said no, but I did want a milkshake. We went to Hardees and had chocolate milkshakes in the parking lot.

By the time we were done with our milkshakes my nose was sore but not terrible. And by the time we picked up our kids and took them home, I just noticed it. By morning it did not hurt or even feel weird.

I diligently took care of my piercing except for one aspect. I did not try to tighten the ball every other day as Billy instructed. I tried a few times and it didn't work. I could not get the thing to stay still while I turned the ball. A week and a half later while I was in the shower, I felt something in my nose. It was my labret! I jumped out of the shower, pulled it out and stuck it backwards into my nose so it wouldn't close up. I finished my shower, put a band aide over it to keep it in then found my Piercing After Care Instructions to call Billy. I would need a new piece of jewelery and since it was so new I wanted him to check it out. The back of my Instructions told me Billy didn't work for the next 2 days.

At first I decided to just stay in my house, then decided that was goofy, it was just a band aide. So I went to he park that day but the next day we were supposed to meet some new people and see a friend who had been away. I did not want to do those things with a band aide on my face. I asked Wes to stop and Tattoo Charlie's and pick up a nose ring for me. Apparently they are custom fitted and out of spare balls so they were no help. He went down to Bodeans (who I don't like btw) to see if they had any thing. The only thing he could do was get Puck (Bodean's piercer) to bend a custom nose ring. I put it in, it hurt but looked fantastic. It was a little too loose so I went back the next day to have Puck bend it a bit more. He was rough! He made it bleed and my eye water as if it were just pierced. He also told me that it was done wrong an din the wrong place...I really don't like Puck...

I have vowed to take very good care of this and not to replace it for the full 8 weeks. I'm already thinking about going back on that though when I look at all the cute jewelery on line.