Feeling Not-so-Beautiful
You may remember that I had a unicorn horn. It was most likely a direct result of the car accident I was in after I graduated high school in ’96. Luckily for me, my window was rolled down. Had it not been, the left side of my face would have broken said window, and there would probably be much more than the unicorn horn to talk about.
Instead, my head just hit the window casing, and thus the horn erupted a few years later. One of my students — almost 10 years after the car accident — pointed it out to me.
“What’s that on your head?”
I went home and realized there was a quarter-sized lump that I’d never seen before. Immediately, I started searching through old pictures to figure out when it showed up.
All I could determine was that it grew some time after I’d had my first child in 2005.
Two babies later, and it just seemed to get larger. More and more people were noticing it and saying, “Did a bug sting you?” or “Wow! Did you hit your head!?” This started me thinking: what if it’s more than just a bump on my head?
So, I took myself to the doctor. He assured me it was most likely just a lipoma – defined by the MayoClinic as a “slow-growing fatty lump.”
This week, I had the procedure to have it taken off. What should have been about a three-hour tour turned in to an almost seven hour excursion due to my stomach’s reaction to the anesthetic. Blind without my contacts or glasses, I was in a fog as I tried to wake up. And my head was wrapped as if I was a Civil War soldier coming home from the war.
Last night, Aaron helped me take the bandages off. I was nervous about what the stitches would look like. So far, I’m already lucky because I don’t have the bruising Dr. R suggested may exist. I also don’t have the drooping eyelid that was possible (thank goodness).
So now, I really just look like someone threw a baseball and hit me in the forehead leaving the imprint of the laces. One of my good friends likened my appearance to that of Chucky. It wasn’t until I really looked at him that I realized she was right!
After a shower and a little hair fixin’, I’m feeling better. I’m not 100% yet, and I’m pretty sure my kids are still freaked out by me (the Animal keeps asking, “Where’s your booboo?”). Needless to say, I’m feeling not-so-beautiful right now.
In the interest of sharing something beautiful, I leave you with these flowers from my garden:
Tell me something beautiful happening for you right now!
So you’re not feeling beautiful, but at least you’re not a unicorn anymore. I hope your recovery is quick and you are back to feeling amazing very soon!