I have not been feeling well for about three weeks.

I was having some right face pain. For about five days. Then it localized to my upper right jaw and I thought, oh, crap, another root canal. The next am it still hurt a lot and I called my dentist.

Worked and off to the dentist at 2:00. But by then the pain had moved around. To the right lower jaw for a while and then forward to my right lips. Also, drinking something warm would set it off really severely, but then I could keep drinking the warm thing. So this is nerve pain. Weird.

My dentist pokes around and is underwhelmed. He taps on my teeth, applies really cold stuff, pokes, none of it sets it off. Then he gets done and suddenly it hits. He can tell by my grimace so he xrays. The xray looks just the same as two years ago... at least, the tooth does. "Might have a little pocket in the sinus," he says.

Hmmm. It is still hurting the next morning, worsening. It could be shingles, though I haven't got the rash yet. It is Saturday and starting to hurt near my right ear. Ear and eye shingles can be a real nightmare. I call in my own valacyclovir.

On valacyclovir. It still hurts and is still triggered by warm water or foods. Not cold. Weird. On Wednesday I have a line of bruises on my right thigh. That's odd. What did I do? The next am I have a bruise on my left leg. Uh-oh. Spontaneous bruising. I call the pharmacy. Yes, rarely valacyclovir can cause spontaneous bruising. I stop the valacyclovir and call my doctor. I see her Friday.

She orders labs and gives me prescriptions for clindamycin and penicillin V. It could be a small sinus abscess. The trouble with abscesses is that the antibiotics can only go where there is blood flow, so that is why abscesses have to be drained.

I get the labs and start the antibiotics. I feel better and the pain subsides. Uh. Well, most of the way. Now there is point tenderness in the bone along my upper jaw line, well above the tooth. Dang it. I take ten days of antibiotics. No more pain with warm fluids but the point tenderness is not resolved.

Rats. I am tired. Next step is back to my doctor and I will need a CT scan and then a maxillofacial surgeon if it is, indeed, an abscess.

Oh, and remember all that weirdness with the strep A and me claiming to have sepsis? Well, my doc ran an ASO, antistreptolysisn antibody. If positive, it indicates a strep A infection within the last 6 weeks. My ASO is positive AGAIN.

...but an abscess would explain the source of the strep A sepsis. An abscess can "seed" the blood stream.... especially if the patient gets too run down and the immune system isn't working.

Yesterday I start a little cough and my throat and upper trachea ache. Sigh. I am so tired. No sepsis symptoms. I don't really want to eat.

I think I will try to take it easy today.

Sent health prayers, all denominations, and stay tuned.