I take out my lip piercing before I go to work and I repierce my lip when I return home.

Families come from all over the U.S. and Canada with their children to take part in research at UCSF and I 'd rather not add to their anxieties. It's hard enough having a sick kid. What if you're a Baptist Republican from a small town in Alabama and you've been assigned to a seemingly gay nurse with a facial piercing? Would this give you peace?

There's always a place for unique expressions of individuality, but a prominent clinical research center is not one of them. Nobody told me I couldn't wear it; I came up with this guideline by myself.

So far, I think it's worth all the pain and swelling it causes me. I expect this thing to heal completely someday.