Afraid of a Little Acne

Normally, I wouldn't be afraid of a little acne, but of late, I am.  I had acne when I was a teen.  I had acne longer than most of my friends, but it wasn't as bad as many of my peers had through high school, so I couldn't complain overall.  As I started college, I expected the acne to go away, but it stuck with me.  As my twenties drew to a close I expected I'd soon be done with the acne, but it persisted.

My mother said on multiple occasions that I got the plague of extended acne from her.  She said the thing that finally helped her move beyond her acne days was getting pregnant with me.  My mother had me when she was thirty so I really thought I'd be done with all things acne by then.  But I didn't have a baby until I was forty.  And I didn't get done with the acne when I was thirty either.

My mother had said she asked her doctor what helped reduce the acne because after I was born, she had some come back.  He told her it was the vitamin A in the prenatal vitamins.  Vitamin A didn't help me and I soon grew tired of taking a vitamin that didn't seem to give results and I was used to the acne by now so I just dealt with it.

Today, I don't have acne, and I had almost forgotten what it was like until I started having some a few months ago.  But aside from the traditional, face-based spots.  I was getting a random bump on my leg or the side of my back.  And I was getting them on my backside too.  Initially, I thought the thing that turned into the terrible abscess was acne.  It most certainly was not.

Then, weeks after I'd finished my antibiotics and the wounds from the abscess surgery were mostly closed over, I got another bit of acne right in the middle of one of my butt cheeks.  Oh, sorry, this is one of those mental image deals and I forgot to warn you.  I keep doing that, my apologies.  Okay, so small bump, that's just a normal bit of acne.  But for some reason, days later after the bump had been getting smaller and healing, boom, it turned around with a vengeance and became the a larger abscess than the others combined.

What in the world is going on, I wondered?  After that abscess was lanced and I'd gone through not one antibiotic but two, one of them at double strength, I seem to be fine.  But I am left with a mental fear of anything acne-related.

I've been told by many medical professionals that we're covered with staph bacteria on our dermis, all of us.  And that it's very common to get an infection.  I don't want to get another abscess.  At this point until I've gone a period of yet undetermined time skin-infection and abscess-free I have decided that hand sanitizer has larger applications than just for dirty hands.

I've been putting it here and there and anywhere that might be an abrasion or possible acne on my body.  And it stings.  Yow.  But it kills 99.99% of common germs.  It can't get deep into the skin, but it might help a bit.  And bleach baths.  I'm making sure to do those too.

Fortunately, I don't have much acne anymore in my forties, but if any does show up, I'm going to try and whack it with as much germ eradication options as I can.

The Big Boy Update:  No solid deposits yet.  We haven't seen solids in the potty at home yet (or at least without extenuating circumstances.)  Surely they're making progress at school in this important step towards freedom from diapers.  But no, we just found out that doesn't happen there either.  "Never" was the word I believe his teacher used.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Very friendly eater.  She is an easy child to sit beside at a meal out.  As long as you don't mind watching her make a mess of her hands and face and bib and possibly hair and definitely the chair and floor.  She sometimes balks at a particular food item, but mostly, she's very happy trying and eating a variety of things.  She is also the last one done eating.  She's still eating while they're carrying the plates away and we're trying to clean her face and hands.

Fitness Update:  Six-and-half miles with my neighbor that ended in the rain and cold. Then I got sick two hours later with what I am guessing is the Noro virus going around. My son seems to have it too. Hopefully it will live up to the twenty-four hour duration and be over soon.

Someone Once Said:   A man who refuses to take his own death into account in making plans is a fool. A self-centered fool who does not love anyone.