When Tetanus Shots Go Bad...

[sisabet]

My right jaw hurts. Seriously hurts - and it is getting worse with time. I noticed at lunch that chewing was kinda difficult and my jaw felt stiff, but only along the right side. There is no gum pain or tooth pain that I can tell. My left jaw/ear are fine.

Sally and my new boss both just told me the side of my face looks a bit swollen. The pain starts at my ear and extends to the hinge of my jaw. As I type my jaw is becoming harder to move. I think I am dying. Seriously, the only reason I am posting this here, right now, is so when I die of tetanus (lock jaw is tetanus) you will all feel really bad for laughing at me. Ow! Tetanus hurts.

And as I told my boss when she laughed at me and said "You really are a hypochondriac!" that the only plausible reason for this kind of pain would be tetanus. OR, maybe someone hit me in the face and it was so traumatic that I am blocking it out? I wonder what else I am blocking? Maybe they know where my black strapless bra is cause dammit I can't find it and I don't want to have to buy another.

Cause it isn't as if I am going home or anything. I'm still working -- just, ow.

Oh - but if I die, then everyone had better say nice things about me at Vividcon. And like my vid. And cry when it plays. A moment of silence would be nice as well. If someone wanted to gnash some teeth, I would not be adverse to that. You know - within reason. Tasteful and all.

AND OW!

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I had that happen to me once, and it turned out to be because I was clenching my teeth while I slept. I would check with a dentist, though. (My first guess for mine, by the way, was jaw cancer. Tetanus didn't even occur to me.)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

OMG JAW CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!

::frets::

[piper47.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you don't have jaw cancer. Don't fret.

[klia.livejournal.com]

Ow! If you can't think of any reason your jaw should be hurting (like, you haven't been hit in the face recently), it sounds like it may be stress-induced TMJ. I sometimes got it so bad, I could barely open my mouth. Luckily, my dental hygienist recommended a physical therapist who'd pioneered research and therapy for TMJ, and he worked on me, and taught me stuff to do to get it to relax whenever I have a flare-up.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is TMJ as my left jaw is fine. I think it is tetanus. Or jaw cancer (now, thanks to rachelmanija).

[klia.livejournal.com]

Nahhhh. My TMJ was just on my left side.

[ta-wanda.livejournal.com]

Do you chew gum? If so, try quitting for a while.

Also, I think TMJ could be one sided.

Mumps?

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

I HAVE MUMPS!!!!!ACK!!!!

I've never had mumps. I think I was innoculated for it but who knows if it even took!

And no, I rarely chew gum.

[luminosity]

Hair shirt? Self-flagellation? You can't die because we have a panel to do. Just sayin'. Save the deaths till *after* the panel. (and it's before the premiere show, right? So we can still mourn you and say nice things about you and your vid)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Well it isn't as if I *want* to die. And heck the panel will be really easy for you if I *do* die cause then you'll just have to sit up there and look all strong and lost and forlorn and everyone will understand...

::gets lost in imagination::

So far we have possible causes for my impending death:

1. Tetanus (IMO, the most likely candidate as I have always been terrified that I would die of this).
2. Jaw Cancer. Yes - I have never chewed tobacco, but what about all that second hand stuff??
3. Mumps. See, adults can totally die of the mumps and it might make me sterile!! Or is that only boys? But I want to be sterile!!!
4. TMJ. I don't think it is TMJ. Where is the fun in that? BO-RING. If it is TMJ I don't even want to talk about it as I am sure I have an irregular mole or something far more interesting somewhere on my person.
5. Ear ache. Sally thinks this is what it is. My ear does feel all pressurey and achey but again, I ask you, where is the romance in that?
6. Consumption. I had a positive TB test a long time ago and you know, however unlikely it is, part of me will never get over Ruby Gillis and Anne of Green Gables. Oldie but a Goody.

[piper47.livejournal.com]

If you die can I have your VVC ticket?

I'm just kidding.

It sounds like an ear ache. That or you could be grinding your teeth in your sleep. I do that, and my whole one side will hurt and it'll hurt to chew. If you're doing that *and* have an ear ache, that would probably cause all that pain. And all the chewing problems.

I would go with that theory.

Of course, if it is you won't get to be all melodramatic and I won't get to buy that *fabulous* black dress I saw at the mall. So really, it's all up to you. ;)

I think you're going to live though.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Seriously -- have you cut yourself at all in the past week, stepped on anything sharp, anything where you might have broken skin? Tetanus doesn't have to come only from rusty can lids, like we were taught when we were in school. I have my booster about every seven years, because a) I'm the klutziest person on earth and b) I garden, and even something like a rose thorn in my hand, with the tiniest subatomic dirt particles known to man, can cause it -- all it takes is bacteria entering your body through a wound, even minor.

I know it's easy to joke that you don't have it, but you'd often be surprised -- the reason I get my booster more often than the basic ten years (and people never get these boosters, though they should, because the vaccine wears off quite quickly) is because I wound myself on a constant basis, and one time I got a little closer to having tetanus than I would have preferred. It's kind of scary.

I'm sure it's just like people have said, something minor, but still, if you've had any kind of wound, it wouldn't hurt to get your shot. (And if you do get a shot, they hurt your arm a little, so I always tell people, move your arm around a lot after the shot, and you will be okay.)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

I had my last booster right before Thanksgiving in 1998 when a patient bit me and unlike all the other times patients have bitten me (You'd be surprised. My life used to be very exciting. And low-paid) this time it broke the skin. So I am almost at 7 years now. And I am as klutzy or moreso than you, I am sure (we should have a trip off! The last woman standing, loses!) but I am actually terrified of tetanus, after I read a book about it. Although - if my jaw were already hurting, it would be too late in my exposure to do anything about it...

But as long as the booster was good, I should be okay - right?

[renenet.livejournal.com]

I think you're repressing the fact that your partner punched you in the face. Repressing won't help. You have to get these things out in the open and DEAL with them before you can move on to reading and anticipating your partner's signals.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

OMG!! We have to go and get on a SHIP!!! And other standard procedure type stuff. Yes! This could just be sympathetic TV-Watchin' pain.

::takes mind off jaw for a bit::

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Clearly the onsight of demonic posession.

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Why do I insist on posting when drunk. ONSET.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

My cable company is Insight! This is like meaningful I am sure.

tetanus

[montdlaw.livejournal.com]

How serious is tetanus? Tetanus has a high fatality rate: approximately 30% of reported cases result in death. As there is no good treatment for tetanus, the percentage of infected individuals dying from the disease has remained constant over the years in the United States. Is there a treatment for tetanus? There is no "cure" for tetanus once a person develops symptoms, just supportive treatment and management of complications. The best "treatment" is prevention through immunization. mdl

Re: tetanus

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Hey! I thought it was like rabies and you suffered and died. YAY! I might live. Thanks!!!

[lapillus]

TMJ can be one sided (I'm a regular guinea pig for U of MN TMJ studies and have found out stuff about it as a result).

It might also be a blocked salivary gland. One of my coworkers get thoses and was told to suck hard on the sourest candy she could find to clear them out. Apparently it works for her...

Have you considered

[aexia.livejournal.com]

that your jaw bolts are just getting rusty? When was the last time your oiled them? Pay attention to that stuff because the last time anyone wants is for your jaw to get rusted shut.