What did you do last weekend?

I don't actually want to know what you did last weekend, I just wanted an opening to tell you what I did last weekend.

I was lain up a peritonsillar abscess (AKA Quinsy)! It's like a giant boil in your throat. Here's a boil:

We've all heard of tonsillitis - most people get it as children whether it gets officially diagnosed as such or not. And many of you must have had your tonsils removed due to tonsillitis, though that standard was discarded for all except the most severe, advanced cases.

I had noticed a little sore throat starting last Monday, February 2. Then throughout the week it got steadily worse:

• Dysphagia. Difficulty swallowing, especially without stuff going down my airpipe.

• Change in voice. I sounded congested, even though I wasn't. It was all just inflammed tissue pushing up into my nasal cavity, smooshing everything, and my voice was soft, high, and scratchy.
  

• Headache. Holy cow. I headache so bad on Friday I though I was going to weep blood. But I conquered it eventually.
  

• Malaise. Yes, like when you have the flu. Lots of sleeping, resting, napping, dozing, siestas, etc..

• Fever

• Neck pain. The whole right side of my head hurt. It just fucking hurt. All along my jaw, inside my ear, and especially down through the myscles and tendons on the righ side. Like I'd been beaten with all up and down that side with a nail bat. It was painful to turn my head or do an effective pigeon impression.
  

• Otalgia. That just means earache.

• Odynophagia. Painful swallowing.

• Difficulty breathing. The tissues in my throat and sinuses were so swollen that they were making my airway smaller and smaller and smaller.... It was scary.

Anyhoo, my primary care doctor called me last night and told me to go to the ED. Since she had called ahead for me, they were able to get in touch with the ENT on call and he came over to take a look. Oh my goodness, he said, "that's an abscess all right. We've got to drain that and put you on antibiotics right away". So he did this! He took out syringe after syringe of dark greenish-grey nasty fluid. It's unbelievable how much better I felt immediately after the drainage - I even declined all pain meds, just took some Advil when I got home. Today I feel even better.

The ENT says that if this ever happens again I will have to have my tonsils out.

Thank you S.R. Wild for attending to me so kindly!
He brought me to my appointment and to the pharmacy after, then checked on me regularly while I slept to make sure I had not stopped breathing. And since I was asleep 20 hours of the day, he busied himself by cleaning my apartment. Il est un marveilleuse ami.