« humblethorn

the personal blog of paul vernon

Thank you for taking the time to view humblethorn. The purpose of this blog is to have an outlet to share my thoughts, quotes, ramblings and the occasional item of interest as I serve as a missionary to the Akha in Northern Thailand. Mostly, this is an outlet (in English!) for me to feel like someone out there is listening. So, to whoever you are, thank you for being my listening someone.

Many people have asked about the name "humblethorn". I would love to explain it, but I honestly don't fully understand it myself. In very simple terms, it is an identity that I have come to realize in Christ. I do not claim to be humble, rather that I am often humbled by my own weakness.

Feel free to navigate through the links on the top of this site to read more about me or just to view the photo galleries, videos, podcasts and journals about our lives with the Akha. Now... on to the posts!

A Thorn in the Flesh

Friday, May 19, 2006

Maybe it's the spicy Akha food. Maybe it's the changing of diets between Akha food, Thai food and American food. Lori thinks that it is stress - and according to FamilyDoctor.org she might be on to something. Whatever the cause, I have been struggling with a serious pain in the mouth - Canker Sores.

Not just any Canker Sores. HUGE canker sores. Although not quite as large as the picture might imply, these suckers are really big. I have to load up on the Oragel before I eat any meals and the darn things keep me up all night. I probably get one every six weeks or so, and I've got a king sized one right now (although before you feel too sorry for me you should know, I still eat very spicy food).

In the end, it doesn't matter all that much. I love what I am doing and would not trade it for the world but I wanted to share one of the daily bothers of my life.

Tags:

Comments on "A Thorn in the Flesh"

Anonymous said ::

I suffered with canker sores from the age of 18. After visiting many doctors and trying many treatments, I finally discovered the cause on my own. When I eat something crunchy with salt on it, I tend to get very tiny injuries to my gums or tongue or even the roof of my mouth. My immune system overreacts to the injuries and creates the inflamed cankers.

Prevention is avoiding hard salty foods. Treatment is Orabase in Oragel (or generic) applied three times per day with cotton swabs.

I know there are many other causes of canker sores but you might want to consider this cause if you still get them. Good luck.

Rooster

8:50 AM

Unknown says ::

post a comment on 'A Thorn in the Flesh'