What Somebody Else Nose

 

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Most recently I was bedridden with the flu. Initially only my throat hurt, next came the body aches and “ran over by a train” pain.  By the end of the first day, breathing through my mouth seemed to produce a cough/bark that only a sea lion could appreciate. However, the worst symptom for me was that I could no longer breathe through my nose.

Since I am addicted to unrestricted breathing, I sent my husband (Reggie) out to purchase some medicine that would make me sleep (bless the manufacturers of Nyquil) and a sinus wash (Neti pot) like the one we saw on Dr. Oz. — Reggie returned from the store in his usual expedient manner (sidebar: How do men go to the store, get completely dressed &ready-to-go, etc., so quickly???) with every item I had requested.

Thanks to “NyQuil, the night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so- you-can-rest medicine,” for seven days I slept for five hour stretches, four times a day. I am also deeply indebted to my Neti pot. What’s a Neti pot? I am glad you asked; it’s simply a personal size plastic pot used specifically for nasal irrigation. It sounds gross but once I used it, I would swear that Reggie had purchased Aladdin’s magic lamp because I had been granted my wish to breathe through my nose.

I took breathing though my nose for granted until I could no longer do it. Here is a good place to mention marriage…isn’t it funny how we don’t miss something we really need until it’s gone.  

Surveys conducted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine have shown that surviving spouses may have increased incidences of heart disease, cancer, depression, alcoholism, and suicide.  And for those of you who simply desire divorce and not death, well results from a University of Chicago study reported that most people are not happier once they divorce.

OK, OK, OK, back to my story…

The directions instructed me to empty the saline packet into the pot and fill it with warm water. Then I was to tilt my head over the sink making sure that one nostril was positioned over the other. Next I placed the spout into my top nostril, and gently poured the saline solution into that nostril. The water flowed through my nasal cavity and out the other nostril. Finally I refilled the Neti pot and repeated the process on the other side. Can you say, “Abracadabra I can breathe!”

I was so excited about the effectiveness of my Neti pot, I had to show my daughter (Jade) how it worked. I poured the contents of the packet into the pot, filled it with warm water, tilted my head and looked at Jade through the mirror to make sure she was watching. This time when I poured the saline into my nostril, it ran into my throat.  Dah, I did what we most often do in marriage; I lost focus of what I was doing because for a moment I cared more about what someone else could see or knew. Don’t get me wrong, I know that some of you really don’t care what other people think. However, I also know that many of you will not seek counseling, coaching or even attend your Marriage Enrichment Ministry meetings because you are afraid that someone will find out that your marriage is in trouble. Breaking NEWS – few onlookers know the details of your marital problems but almost everybody “nose”  there is some type of restriction in your flow because we all see you choking on the saline that’s running into your throat.

Challenge: Get over the fact that I just called you out. Because for real, I don’t care if you are angry with me. However, I do care about the health of your marriage. So I challenge you to reach out to whomever or whatever aid that can nurse your marriage back to health. 

I’ll be waiting on your call. Who “nose,” recuperation of your relationship could be a call away.