Catching Idle Butterflies

It's a what?!

First off, guess who I talked to last night - on the phone?!

My little phone ringy-dingied at me, and to my wonderly surprise I saw PastVoices 's name on the little screen! I couldn't answer my phone fast enough. Heck, I was so excited, I had a hard time finding the [Send] button to begin talking.

We didn't get to chat long, but I grinned the rest of the night (and am right now just thinking about it). Funny, though her voice was still scratchy from her virus, she sounded much like I imagined as far as how she speaks, the words she uses, and even her slightly eastern US accent.

I hope we'll chat again soon, and for much longer. What a joy!

NOTE: If you have a very weak stomach, read no further!! Okay, it's not that bad, but consider yourself warned anyway.

The human body never ceases to amaze or fascinate me. Most of the time everything functions like no symphony could ever hope to achieve, every part, not matter how miniscule works together in perfect harmony, and near instantaneously.

For instance, have you ever considered everything the body must do for a single heartbeat beginning from the brain, to the heart, and every vein and artery in your body? Well, I know some of you have .

Yet the body can do strange things, things heretofore never thought even possible.

About four years ago now, my saliva gland underneath my right jaw began to hurt and swelled up. It continued to hurt for about two weeks; I did nothing about it because it had hurt and swelled up before, and for many years. It always went away after a while.

However, this time it was really bad, but by the time I decided perhaps I should go to a doctor, it stopped.

For three days.

Then wham it hit again, but it wasn't just the gland, but underneath my tongue as well. It also hurt like mad and swelled up. After a couple of days, unable to take it anymore, I looked underneath my tongue. Below and on each side of the tongue and converging in the center of the tongue are tubes where saliva comes out.

The little flap of skin was swelled up to easily twice its normal size, and I noticed on the right side the skin was rubbing away, revealing something yellow and kinda gross-looking. I pressed down on it and it felt mushy.

I ran to Dave in a panic and said, "Take me to the doctor. Something's wrong." My first thought was I had some nasty cancerous tumor growing underneath my tongue.

When we arrived at the clinic and the nurse took my blood pressure, it was through the roof.

She asked, "Do you normally have high blood pressure?"

"No. I'm just a little nervous."

She nodded and said, "Then that explains it."

The doctor came in a few minutes later and asked the problem. I told her what I felt and saw including, "And it feels like it's under pressure."

She put on a pair of gloves, reached underneath my tongue with both thumbs, and pressed on that . . . thing. I felt a sharp pain and I squinted my eyes shut. I heard a pop and felt instant relief.

Then I heard a tink, tink, tink of something bouncing on the floor.

"What the hell was that?" I said, blinking back tears.

We all looked on the floor, and the doctor picked up this . . . rock.

Believe it or not, this picture is close to actual size:
** Image ID #1196199 Unavailable **

She handed it to me and said, "It's a saliva gland stone."

"A what?!"

She laughed and said, "It's very much like a kidney stone only it developed in your saliva gland. That's actually the biggest one I've ever seen. I'm surprised you passed it. Normally it would have gotten stuck either in your gland or in the tube underneath your jaw. It would have required surgery to remove it, so I just saved you about $3000."

No wonder my gland hurt for so many years. That thing must have started developing and continued to grow larger for years, if not decades.

We left the clinic, and I was light-headed and giddy from relief.

I still have a rip the size of the stone underneath my jaw where the thing popped out, and every time I feel it, I think, "Simply amazing." To develop such a thing is astonishing, but for my body to move it through what must be a complex gland, through a little tube underneath my jaw, and push it out on it's own (which would have eventually happened had I not gone to the doctor), that's . . . well . . . amazing.

God knew what he was doing when he created the human body.