My December plans are a bit more scaled back due to some unforeseen circumstances (see below), but I still hope to finish Absentia. Let’s just say it was a good thing I had so much energy and got so much done in the early parts of November!

I am, however, on the mend now, and I’m looking forward to completing the site for my favorite Doctor before the end of the year. I actually have a few new articles I’d like to add, too!

As for what happened to me these last couple of weeks:

Trigger Warning: Health stuff, possible grossness

Starting on the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, I got hit with terrible jaw pain…which evolved into terrible tooth pain on Saturday…which turned out to be a severe abscess in my left bottom jaw, finally discovered on Sunday morning. A cracked tooth that had been heavily filled and rebuilt in February had never been quite right afterward, and unbeknownst to me, decay and infection had continued under the filling. Despite this, the tooth had suffered in silence before the infection finally spilled out into my face, swelling my cheek and jaw and making it impossible to eat or even clean the tooth without stabbing pain. Neither cold nor heat would soothe this pain; only 800 milligrams of ibuprofen would even begin to handle its throbbing.

I thus spent most of the Thanksgiving holiday cradling my face, taking obscene amounts of Valium and Advil, and sobbing/screaming my head off, especially at night (occasionally contemplating whether bashing my face against the doorjamb would help anything). But thankfully, after 2 (TWO!!) trips to the emergency room, I finally got antibiotics enough to start easing my suffering, and got a root canal in the tooth two days later. The panic I felt at having to have a dental procedure done was eased much by my awesome dentist (and his suggestion to take a couple Valium before the appointment); even though I hate having dental work done, I wanted to be free of the pain more than anything. The procedure took 2 hours and 15 minutes (the poor tooth was apparently very bad off), but after the numbing shots I didn’t feel a thing! (It’s oddly great to say the numbing shots were the worst part LOL)

Now I am about 6 days post-procedure, and I am able to eat almost normally again, brush my teeth without yelping, and able to sleep on my left side without discomfort! Whee! (And it’s SUPER nice to not be restricted to pudding, soup, and mashed potatoes LOL)