Thursday, October 16, 2008

A virus and a fever ...

The last couple of days have been a bit rough for me. On Sunday I started to feel achy all over, then came down with a sore throat on Sunday night. By the time Monday night came around, I had a fever of 102, so I called the on-call doctor and he had me start taking the antibiotics my surgeon had prescribed for Paris. The worst was the shooting pains that I started to get in my ear late Monday night … they continued and were much more than I have felt before, I would get sharp pains many times a minute, and also had some constant pain in there as well. I went to see my surgeon Tuesday, and the plate is looking good, he said it has healed over a bit since last time he saw me, although he does not think it will heal over completely. He said around week 10 we will make a decision if we should remove it (I am at 5 weeks right now). Then, I went to urgent care to see what was going on with my throat and ears. He looked in my ears, and said everything looked 100%, but often people come in complaining of ear problems when it is really their throat that is the problem. He looked at my throat and said he saw the irritation, but said that it looked viral, so it just has to run its course. If it is strep, however, the antibiotic I am taking works well on that too, so it will take care of it. So, I’ve been taking Tylenol to help with the ear pains, which has made it much better, although it seems like my worst time of day is 3-6 pm. For some reason, everything just culminates around that time and I feel like crap. It is so strange to me, that after all I’ve been through with breaking both jaws and being banded shut, that a sore throat and earache would be my worst pain of it all! Amazing, isn’t it?

Sorry for the negative post ... just haven't felt the greatest the past few days, but I think I mostly have the pain under control now. I am leaving for Paris this afternoon, so I was particularly worried about my ears because of the flights. There is nothing worse then having congestion or an ear infection and going up to 30,000 feet! It's the way down that's painful ... OUCH! Luckily, I haven't gotten congested, although the doctor I saw said this could be just the start. I hope not!

In better news, I got my toothbrush inside my mouth yesterday! I was so excited ... although just because it is in there doesn't mean you can brush like "normal". But, I got my tongue and the insides of my teeth the best I could. When I tried again last night, I couldn't repeat, but at least this means I've made a little progress on the ROM.

I will try to get up some new pictures when I get back from Paris, I feel like my swelling hasn't been going down much at all anymore. It is mostly concentrated above my upper lip, around my nose, and in my "jowls". I know ... I need to be patient. Patience, grasshoppa ... patience.

All right, I'll update more when I get back from my trip ... Au revoir mes amis!

2 comments:

Katherine (Kate) said...

Oh my, sure hope the throat backs off....especially given your travel plans to the gay ole city of Paree ~ Have a wonderful time (all work and no play...)!

Hope the flight is uneventful congestion wise. You're right that is NOOOOO fun.

Hurrah on the first completely successful toothbrush mission!

Look forward to hearing of your Parisian adventures on your return :)

cookieyum said...

Three of my four kids got this crud. Two were put on antibotics, one had a severe ear infection, one had strep and the other just viral. I hope your trip went well and you start feeling better soon. Have some fun on your trip!
Mo-Mo