on B's nose, courage and joy

So poor Beck's cold descended into acute sinusitis and otitis media, and she finally had to have a nasopharyngoscopy. She'd had horrible nasal congestion and a bad phlegmy cough for pretty much the entire June holidays, and had already been to see two different GPs (which honestly just tells me that you shouldn't see a GP except for the most basic of ailments -- the kinds which you could just as soon get treated by the nearest pharmacist).

In case you don't know, nasopharyngoscopy is a procedure which enables an ENT specialist to examine the internal surfaces of the nose and throat. A local anesthetic is squirted in the nose, then a fiberoptic nasopharyngoscope is used. This basically involves inserting a tube through the nose and down the throat (because the tube has its own eyepiece and light, you can actually follow its movements on a TV screen). Yep.

Well, if you've ever had this procedure done, then you'll know that the things they use look like torture devices. They're big and long and metallic -- B was definitely not relishing having to have them pushed up her nose. But -- though she was clearly afraid -- she just gritted her teeth and went through with it. And for that I am so very proud of her.

The whole thing took quite awhile, because the goop in there also had to be vacuumed out, but B kept her head still, and her spirits up, the entire time. And at the end of it, she joyfully declared, "I feel so much better now!"

That's the wonderful thing about Becks -- her unfailing joy; her positive, upbeat attitude. Though she was very uncomfortable, and hacking a great deal throughout the holidays, and had to, as a consequence, spend her vacation largely at home, she remained her usual lively, cheery self.

Part of her aftercare now includes rinsing out her sinuses twice a day; this involves squirting an entire bottle of saline solution up her nose. While she prepares for this process with dramatic groans and laments, she goes through it with good-natured patience (the rinse was apparently developed by a "Dr Mehta"; for some reason there is a duck on the box declaring this. B says that's Duckter Mehta).

Like Kipper in her collar, B does not let circumstances get her down.

Not too long back, we saw the emergence of one of B's first adult teeth -- while her baby tooth was still in place. Double-rowed shark teeth aren't really what you want in a human, so we kept a watch on that adult tooth pushing its way up behind the baby one.

After awhile, because the baby tooth showed no signs of coming out, or even being a little bit shaky, I told B I'd have to bring her to the dentist to get the situation evaluated. The mere thought of tooth extraction can strike fear even in grown men, so it was no surprise that B got really anxious and fearful.

What was a surprise was that she told me that her school has a resident dentist, and that she would go see the dentist herself. And you know what -- she did. The dentist told her to keep shaking her baby tooth, and to go back for weekly reviews. And Becks faithfully did (of her own accord, for which I also applaud her). But the baby tooth was stuck firmly in place.

Then, after about three or four weeks, B came back with her baby tooth in an envelope -- she had gone to the dentist herself and had it extracted.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear", said Mark Twain. Better yet, "God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control" (2 Tim 1:7).

I am so very glad that Becks has that. And I am so glad too that she has that innate joy and good-naturedness, that ability to truly live in the now, and be peaceful and positive in spite of circumstances. May I never ruin -- or even weaken -- that wonderful, sunny nature with negative, critical, harsh or belittling words or behaviour.

Proverbs 4:23 says "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". I pray that B will always guard her joyful heart, all the days of her life, and that I will faithfully help her do so.

The way a joyful heart looks after having their nose vacuumed.