Tumbleweed
New Member
This happened last week.
It wasn’t really a toothache. More like a bruised gum,like you might get from eating hard candy or beef jerky. Not really painful, just bothersome. Next came a slight swelling under the jaw. Swollen glands. I took some Tylenol. Then it became hard to swallow. It got worse.
It was Friday afternoon, so I went to a “Doc in the box”.(Big mistake) He diagnosed strep throat, but the quickie test came back negative. It’s only 91 percent accurate. So he cultured it, with results pending on Monday. He also suspected Mononucleosis.
He told me to come back Monday for the results.
Saturday: It’s harder to swallow. I can hardly gargle, or drink liquids. My throat is constricted. The opposite side of my throat is now swelling. No fever. Can’t lie down because I can’t even begin to swallow horizontally. I doze in my recliner two nights in a row. No real sleep, and I can’t eat anything. I can’t even swallow soup. My tongue is extremely sore, and I can hardly open my jaw. Now it is difficult to breathe, and getting worse by the minute.
Sunday: I call my brother in Forest Grove, Oregon. (He’s a dentist) and tell him the symptoms. He FREAKS! He calls a local specialist on the exchange. Labeled URGENT! Called his exchange 3 times. No reply.This man then called his exchange and informed them he was no longer "on call". Vaughn (my brother) is also licensed in Idaho, as he will open a practice here in a few years. He is reporting this doctor to the board, and taking him to task in front of a board of peers. Vaughn has no tolerance for unprofessional ethical practices.
He calls another local head, throat and neck specialist. (DDS). We meet immediately at the ICU in Nampa. The infection is spreading down into my chest. This man knows what he’s looking at as soon as he sees it, and he takes immediate action. In 30 minutes, Demerol takes me away. I had an abscessed wisdom tooth. The offending wisdom tooth is removed. Incision and drainage of pus. Intravenous antibiotics and lots of liquids. I’m de-hydrated.
Two days in ICU. Follow-up visit next day for removal of drainage tube and general check. I’ll be O.K. Just a little sore and woozy for a few days. Lots of high powered antibiotics and pain killers.
The surgeon and Vaughn said I was less than two days from death,perhaps hours. The swelling had actually pushed my esophagus to one side, and partially collapsed it. When that infection hits your chest, it's cardiac arrest time! If I had followed the directives of the first doctor, I would be room temperature.
I'm posting this story as a warning to you all. If you have a toothache, and then some swelling, and/or difficulty swallowing, don’t procrastinate. Oral infections are nothing to take lightly. They are killers. Take care of it IMMEDIATELY!
Take care of yourselves out there, good people. Life can surprise you! And it can happen quickly.
<Tumbleweed the lucky>
It wasn’t really a toothache. More like a bruised gum,like you might get from eating hard candy or beef jerky. Not really painful, just bothersome. Next came a slight swelling under the jaw. Swollen glands. I took some Tylenol. Then it became hard to swallow. It got worse.
It was Friday afternoon, so I went to a “Doc in the box”.(Big mistake) He diagnosed strep throat, but the quickie test came back negative. It’s only 91 percent accurate. So he cultured it, with results pending on Monday. He also suspected Mononucleosis.
He told me to come back Monday for the results.Saturday: It’s harder to swallow. I can hardly gargle, or drink liquids. My throat is constricted. The opposite side of my throat is now swelling. No fever. Can’t lie down because I can’t even begin to swallow horizontally. I doze in my recliner two nights in a row. No real sleep, and I can’t eat anything. I can’t even swallow soup. My tongue is extremely sore, and I can hardly open my jaw. Now it is difficult to breathe, and getting worse by the minute.
Sunday: I call my brother in Forest Grove, Oregon. (He’s a dentist) and tell him the symptoms. He FREAKS! He calls a local specialist on the exchange. Labeled URGENT! Called his exchange 3 times. No reply.This man then called his exchange and informed them he was no longer "on call". Vaughn (my brother) is also licensed in Idaho, as he will open a practice here in a few years. He is reporting this doctor to the board, and taking him to task in front of a board of peers. Vaughn has no tolerance for unprofessional ethical practices.
He calls another local head, throat and neck specialist. (DDS). We meet immediately at the ICU in Nampa. The infection is spreading down into my chest. This man knows what he’s looking at as soon as he sees it, and he takes immediate action. In 30 minutes, Demerol takes me away. I had an abscessed wisdom tooth. The offending wisdom tooth is removed. Incision and drainage of pus. Intravenous antibiotics and lots of liquids. I’m de-hydrated.
Two days in ICU. Follow-up visit next day for removal of drainage tube and general check. I’ll be O.K. Just a little sore and woozy for a few days. Lots of high powered antibiotics and pain killers.
The surgeon and Vaughn said I was less than two days from death,perhaps hours. The swelling had actually pushed my esophagus to one side, and partially collapsed it. When that infection hits your chest, it's cardiac arrest time! If I had followed the directives of the first doctor, I would be room temperature.
I'm posting this story as a warning to you all. If you have a toothache, and then some swelling, and/or difficulty swallowing, don’t procrastinate. Oral infections are nothing to take lightly. They are killers. Take care of it IMMEDIATELY!
Take care of yourselves out there, good people. Life can surprise you! And it can happen quickly.
<Tumbleweed the lucky>
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