Ahhh, Pharmaceuticals

This post is brought to you by the letter "Ph" for "Pharmaceuticals."

Tuesday afternoon, my mouth started hurting.  This did not seem all that strange to me, because my throat was hurting, too.  I figured I was getting a flu.

By Wednesday afternoon, the throat pain was subsiding, but the pain in my mouth was increasing.  It throbbed.  It felt like someone was pouring lava through my jaw, in hot pulses.  I called a dentist.  My appointment?  Thursday at 2:00 PM.

I did not really sleep Wednesday night.  I moaned.  I took ibuprofen.  I rolled, tossed, turned.  I moaned again.

By the time I made it to the appointment, I was sure I had an acid-based lifeform burrowing through my teeth and jaws.  But no.  It is "just" an abscess.

I was prescribed Vicodin for the pain, and anti-biotics to attack the infection.  I went home & moaned some more.  I tried the Vicodin.  Seemingly no effect.  But with a little help from some more ibuprofen, and (I think) the switch from a cold compress to a warm one, I got a couple of hours of sleep.

Now, thanks to the antibiotics, my pain has subsided.  My mouth feels strange, but I have some hope that I might actually sleep tonight.  And if I can do that, then I will have some hope that a flight from MSP to Amsterdam (AMS) on the way to Milan (MXP) will be endurable.

And, yes, I'm getting old if I think writing a blog entry about aches & pains is interesting.

But really, I am just thankful that we have enough medical knowledge that my painful condition can be handled so quickly.

I was definitely not meant to live in the 19th century.  Or before.  Pain = Not For Me.