2002-12-13 - 12:19 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: "Let's Hear It For The Boy", Deniece Williams (wtf?!)

Gratuitious photo of the day:

I'm squinting. Oh well. This photo was taken standing in front of a cactus plant, because CACTUSES are COOL!! But the cactus has been mostly edited out because I don't want this page to take all day to load.

(I don't want to hear it. "Cactuses" is way more fun to say than "cacti".)

Well.

Wednesday, near the end of the work day, I was IM'd by my husband, who was more excited than I'd ever seen him. Ever. He's not really a caps-and-exclamation-points kinda guy (me, on the other hand...).

(Some people don't like reading IM transcripts, I know, but I need to preserve this.)

Poindexter: DEBACTEROL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Poindexter: I MUST HAVE IT!
Me: Whazzat?
Poindexter: IMUSTIMUSTIMUSTIMUST!
Me: Stay calm.
Poindexter: The cure...

[At this point, I realize he's talking about canker sores.]

Me: THE CURE?
Me: WHAT?
Poindexter: The treatment...
Poindexter: Ahhhhhhhhh.....
Poindexter: finally....
Poindexter: debacterol.com

Me: I've never seen you like this.
Poindexter: I have to find a doc or dentist that has it!
Poindexter: I know! I'll check the pharmacies first!

[Some talk about how to get it.]

Poindexter: Yes!
Poindexter: Maybe!
Poindexter: I want it now!
Poindexter: NOWGODDAMNITNOW!!!!!!!
Me: Why have we not heard of this before?
Poindexter: It's new. Apparently it was supposed to be over the counter by now, but they want to get it approved for another use as well.
Poindexter: SO IT'S DELAYED!
Poindexter: AND I HAVE TO SUFFER!

So. Right now (edit: Thursday) he's got a pretty big one (yes, again), which he says is about the size of a hearing aid battery (roughly 1/4" diameter, probably). Another one is forming somewhere else. So he found a dentist locally who has the stuff and got an appointment for today at 2:30.

Apparently the dentist has the same problem -- a hereditary tendency to get the things. Poindexter's paternal grandfather had it too. There have been times when Poindexter looks like somebody hit him in the lip, because the things swell up inside. My poor baby. Through avoiding certain foods and sodium laurel sulfate in his toothpaste, he's been able to cut down a lot on the frequency, but not eliminate them altogether. They hurt a lot, and eating (anything!) aggravates them, so he's pretty miserable.

Up 'til now, he'd been using a prescription steroid cream mixed with Orabase -- after Gonzolawyer mentioned it I looked at the script and it's generic Kenalog. Kenalog works by coating the area and protecting it, but it doesn't make it go away. And the treatment falls off very easily. The Debacterol claims to actually make it go away.

So this stuff sounded like a godsend. Poindexter was very excited. He had his appointment, and he says the application HURTS. Made his eyes tear up.

BUT.

He got back to the office and ate his lunch, and he said surface didn't hurt at all. Still on the inside, yes, but what the Debacterol does is cauterize the outside with acid so that surface pain is eliminated. So he's more comfortable now than he was this morning. And hopefully if he puts the stuff on before they get too big, he can nip them before they get really painful.

We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed. If it works, then I don't have to go two weeks at a time without being able to properly kiss my husband!

Update, Friday morning: The pain's gone. GONE. It was gone by dinnertime last night -- he was eating normally. The stuff actually works. I can't believe it! The canker sore is still there -- it's visible and he can feel that there's something different in that spot, but there's no PAIN. The most you could call it is "tender", he says. WOW. YAY!!!!!

previous index next