June of 08 I started having pain in the right lower part of my mouth. A couple of days later I woke up with the right side of my face swollen about 3 times the normal size. The pain was worse than natural childbirth. I went to my Family Doctor. I was immediately given a shot for pain so that an X-ray could be taken. I was put on antibiotics and pain medication.
I continued to go downhill. My Doctor did everything possible to find out what was happening to me. I had a tooth pulled in April by a Myofascial Surgeon. I have a horrible time with removal of my teeth. I have to have surgery to get a tooth out. I had a stainless steel cap on this tooth for approximately 40 years. There is no telling what was used back then to seal the cap.
I went in to see my Family Doctor on Aug. 13th. He was setting me up with an ENT because my white count would not come down and my right ear stayed around a 8-9 on the pain scale.
That evening my son and I went to the grocery store. I felt as if I was going to die. I made it to the register and told my son to tell them to call 911. My son sprung into action because I had a heart attack 2 years prior. By the time the Paramedics arrived he already had 3 baby aspirin down me. By that time I was lying on the floor. I was having an ocular seizure at the time.
I can't begin to tell you how I felt when I was put on the stretcher. I knew that someone was going to get to the root of my problem. I was admitted and had a cardio workup. I told my cardiologist about my jaw pain. He told me that he would get the right person in to work on that.
An Internal Medicine Doctor and my Myofascial Surgeon were called in. I spent 13 days in the hospital and had 3 surgeries. I had a Hickman Cath placed and came home on IV antibiotics for an additional 30 days. The antibiotics were able to stop the infection and spared a small amount of spongy bone in my right mandible. My surgeon consulted with an expert and they felt as if I had a chance of bone regeneration instead of having to put me through having a plate put in my mouth.
I am at the 2 year mark, and the bone has regrown. Unfortunately, I have permanent damage. Nerves and the muscle were cut during the surgeries. I have pain in my right ear, nerve pain, scar tissue as well as bone pain.I eat a semi soft diet, and can only chew for a few minutes. I cannot have long conversations as it causes bone pain. I have a wonderful Pain Management Doctor. I could not ask for any better treatment. They know what my goal is and work with me to attain that goal. On the flip side the rein me in because they do not want me to rush in reducing my pain meds.
It has been a long haul. I am no where near 100% and probably never will be. I have accepted that and live at my own pace. I do not feel as if anyone did anything wrong to cause this to happen. I have no qualms about returning to the same Myofascial Surgeon in the future, if need be.
I hope that anything I said here can help someone else that may be going through the same ordeal or has a family member fighting osteomeylitis. Please feel free to ask me questions. There is power in knowledge. Ann