Thought the side of my face was going to explode

Really should have taken a photo! Don't know what's up with me lately, all these odd things happening - perhaps old age? (41 now) This painful hip pain thing that comes without warning, then just as strangely vanishes a day or two later (thank goodness as I can hardly sleep when it decides to visit me) and now, the other day, the side of my face swelling up like I had a just kicked 2010 world cup soccer ball on the inside of my face!

It's happened before, this sudden swelling on the side of my face, when I eat something, but not as badly as this recent time. It happens so suddenly too; without warning. It's not because of eating something sour or acidic, as sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't.

It hadn't happened for a while, and I was beginning to think it was not going to come back again, but come back it did, like a kick in the face!

The first bite of a fresh little flat sugar snap (fresh young peas in pod) and I felt the first twinge, just under my left ear, where the glands get sore if one has an ear infection or tonsolitis. Didn't worry me too much, as as, although I had though it was never coming back again, I knew that sometimes a little twinge was all I felt, and it would go away, with the very next bite of whatever I was eatin. But, no. Next bite made it larger and more painful. I was hungry and kept hoping each bite (of other food too, (avocado pear on toast with black pepper and salt (yum)), not just sugar snaps, would get better, but instead the pain and swelling got worse, and I had to stop eating. It was sore ans swollen right behind my ear too, and down my neck on that side. Looked in the mnirror and it looked like I had triple mumps on the left side of my face! That's what it looked like. What it felt like was that I had a soccer ball in my face, trying to burst out!

I started to panic and thought that maybe my veins would burst, and even half of my throat felt closed up. We keep cortisone tablets in the house due to one of my sons once having had two unexpected and unexplained allergic reactions a few years ago, that we give for bee stings or anything that seems like any allergic reactions might follow, so I took one of those, and went to lie down. It was night already, and about three hours before I would usually go to sleep, and as the swelling did not go down after about an hour, I just stayed in bed, and went to sleep.

In the morning, the swelling was gone, but my glands on that side of my neck were still painful for about a day and half after that. I did not eat until the evening of the next day, as was too scared to! When I did eat, though, all was well, and I really hope it doesn't happen again!

© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010