Infection pt. 2 and my birthday!

I woke up this morning and my lip was still swollen. Not as bad as Monday afternoon but still sensitive to the touch and a tad uncomfortable. I went and saw Dr, Keith and he confirmed my pcp's diagnosis. I had an infection inside along my upper jaw incision. Fortunately, it was not to bad. He said that the area is slightly open which is allowing everything to drain out. GROSS. That's good because it means that he doesn't have to drain the area manually. I didn't ask what draining it manually would entail, didn't really want to know. He said that I'll have a gross taste in my mouth until everything drains out and begins healing. It'll probably take about 7 days.

He advised me to continue taking the antibiotics until the bottle was completed, use a hot compress on the outside of the infected area, do salt water rinses every 2 hours for the next 48 hours, and use chlorhexidine mouthwash for the next 7 days. He said that I was lucky I caught it so quickly because it could have been worse. Worse meaning that the area around the implants would become infected. That's super bad so I'm glad it didn't come to that!

He thinks it might have started due to one of my stitches not falling out. Those little bastards are terrible! I hate hate hate those stupid dissolving stitches. They are the worst! Thankfully, it's only superficial so it should clear up pretty quickly.

Since I started the antibiotics last night, he said I should be good to return to work tomorrow. I really don't want to use up all my earned time so that was a bit of relief. I'm not contagious but he thought it was a good idea to sit back, relax and let the meds do their thing for the rest of today.

I was nervous about what he was going to say so I didn't eat much of anything before my appointment. Just a bottle of chocolate ensure. If I had to have something done in their office, at least I didn't have much in my stomach to cause any delays.

I was told to go home, relax and to enjoy my birthday. Don and I had originally planned to go ice skating and then out to dinner but not sure if that's happening or not. I think I'll take a nap and see how I feel when I wake up. We also have to see what the weather is like since it's been raining on and off all morning. We'll make a decision based on that. 

This post is gross. Don't read if you have a sensitive stomach.

Everything was going great. I was healing really well and felt practically normal. I was fine until Saturday. My lip got super swollen and now my  upper lip and nose are very sensitive. Almost painful to the touch. I just thought it was a cold sore since I've gotten them frequently in the past. But cold sores get better after taking medication and mine seemed to get worse. I went to work this morning and my swelling was even worse. After breakfast, I thought that some ice would help with the swelling so I went to the emergency room to grab some and ran into the charge nurse. She saw my lip and asked me what was wrong so I explained everything to her. She told me that from what I was describing, it didn't sound like a simple cold sore. She told me that my lip might be infected. I told her that I had a routine physical later this afternoon and that made her feel better.

After I had the ice on my face for a little while, it got me worried. My face hadn't been swollen like this in awhile and for it to suddenly come back made me a little nervous. I decided to call my surgeon's office to see if they thought it was in my best interests to be seen or not. I called, described my symptoms and the office secretary told me that she needed to page Dr. Keith and find out what he wanted her to do. Paging a surgeon is typically a last resort, especially when he has lots of people working under him. For her to directly page him meant that my symptoms were serious. Within 10 minutes, she had called me back and told me that I needed to be seen tomorrow. I told her that I was going to my pcp this afternoon for a routine checkup and she said to definitely keep my appointment. In the very least, my pcp could prescribe me something to help bring down my swelling to a comfortable level. 

After lunch time, my swelling became even worse. I grabbed some more ice and was sitting with the ice on my face. I soon realized that I needed to go home. I wasn't capable of working if I had ice constantly held to my face. My boss saw me and agreed that I needed to leave. So I went home for a few hours before my doctor's appointment. I went back a few hours later, saw my pcp and described my symptoms to her. After some gentle prodding, she touched the area and quickly told me that it was infected. 

What happened next was the nastiest thing that has happened to me yet. (Hint: Here's where you skip to the last paragraph since it's gross) Even worse, I think, than vomiting with the palate expander in. She touched the area and liquid puss came out. It came out and went right down my throat (since I was lying down so she could see the area better). I almost vomited on her it was that nasty. And it tasted horrible (which I'm sure isn't a surprise). I rinsed out my mouth but the memories are still there. And it's disgusting. She put me on a dose of liquid amoxicillin at least to start me on some kind of antibiotic. She didn't want me to have to wait for my appointment tomorrow. At least I can start some kind of medication to begin the healing process. Then, tomorrow, Dr. Keith can make the decision on how to continue my care. If he feels the need, he can change me to a different medication. 

So, tomorrow is my 29th birthday. And I have a puss infected lip.This ranks up there with getting kidney stones on my birthday 10 years ago. What a great birthday present to me. I'll post again tomorrow with an update after my appointment.