The mump

I have the mump.  Not the mumps, just the mump.  I have a tooth that broke a while back, and have had a few problems with it, but not too bad.  Kevin's dental insurance kicked in recently, so I can get things fixed in there, but over the weekend, I developed a problem.

Right under that tooth, my jaw swelled.  It happened this weekend, and gave me the appearance of having mumps, but only on one side.  It didn't hurt, particularly, just a bit when I pressed on it...so I didn't press on it!  Problem solved.  By Monday, though, it was bigger.  Great.

Since we'll be new patients at the dentist, it's gonna take forever to get in, plus they can't do anything if there is infection present, so I made an appointment with Dr. Amazing.  OK, that's not his real name, but for the first time that I can remember, we have an AWESOME family doctor.  This guy even has a personality!  Kevin has been seeing him for over a year, and I've taken Natalie there, and he's a great guy.  Doesn't move folks through like cattle, just collecting money and mumbling to himself.

He told them to double-book me, since he had no appointments left on his late night (last night), which impressed me right away.  It's so hard to get off work for a Dr. appointment, then go back to work...a 45 minute round trip.  Although I was double-booked at 6, he was in the room with me by 6:05.  He asked if he could take a look, so I opened my mouth and he shined a flashlight in there and said, "Yikes!  That's gotta hurt!"  LOL  I said, "Well, not as bad as  you'd think, but I'm flying to Michicgan in a couple of days, and didn't want to be that far from home with a toothache."  I wanted to get some antibiotic.

He wrote two prescriptions, one for Penicillin, and the other for Darvocet!  Heck, Tylenol and Advil have been working, but I filled it anyway, in case disaster strikes on my trip.  Meanwhile, from all of the prodding and poking on it, by the time I got home, it hurt like heck.  I stalled for about an hour, then finally took one of them at 7:45.  Pain medication often does NOTHING for me, and even when it works, it doesn't make me loopy.

Well, by 9:00, I couldn't feel my face, other than my nose, which felt tingly.  I went to bed stoned.  I told Kevin that I wasn't taking any more of those!  He suggested I try taking a half, next time I feel I need it.  I think I'll stick to Tylenol, thank you very much.  I will still take the Darvocet along on my trip, in case of disaster, but I don't plan on taking them!