Sore Loser

A couple of days after my grandma died I started noticing the corner of my bottom lip itching and tingling. Well, for anyone whose ever suffered from a cold sore, you know to pay ATTENTION to that feeling because that is your warning signal. It is of the utmost importance to dig out your tube of Abreva and begin applying like a madwoman in hopes that you might "catch it" in time.
Although I've had several nasty coldsores in my life...it's been years since my last one. I figured out that I have a latex allergy and I that I was developing a cold sore EVERY time I went to the dentist. Thankfully, that was easily fixed by having the people who work on my mouth wear non-latex gloves. I also quit blowing up balloons or inflatable rafts and ta-da! No more cold sores. But I forgot--there is another culprit. Stress. And boy have I dealt with my share of that this past month. So, it really wasn't a big shocker when I started feeling the all-too-familiar tingling on my lip.
I ran right home and got out my nearly empty tube of Abreva and applied it to my lip every time I thought of it...which was constantly. Within a couple of days, the symptoms subsided. Awesome! Now that it's been about 2 days without any symptoms or applications of Abreva, I wake up this morning to find the right half of my bottom lip swollen up like I just OD'd on Botox. It's like the biggest, puffiest cold sore I've EVER seen in my LIFE.
Lovely.
Not only am I hosting a baby shower tomorrow and will likely look ridiculous, but now I will be dealing with a big, oozing, crusty, bleeding sore on my lip for the next 2 weeks.
No kissing. No drink sharing.
Bagh!! This STINKS!