Yes, I am Alive!

I have been away from Twitter, FaceBook, and general socializing for quite some time now. I figured this would be a good way to fill all you in on my life.

Back in May I developed a tooth ache, not thinking much about it, I ignored it for a couple days. But then my gums around that tooth became inflamed and painful, so I made an appointment with my dentist to find out what was going on. By the time of my appointment all my gums on the upper left side of my mouth and the left side of my pallet where inflamed. My dentist had never seen anything like it before but suspected it might be a bacterial infection and sent me to a periodontist. The periodontist  took some x-rays and also suspected a bacterial infection but again he had never seen anything like it. He strongly recommended I go to the ER for some IV antibiotics before the infection moved up to the eye and eventually the brain. I was also having shortness of breath and felt very weak. So off to the ER.... There I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and had entered into Diabetic Ketoacidosis. They quickly started treatment for the Ketoacidosis and gave me IV antibiotics for the infection. Apparently High blood sugar can cause infections and infections cause high blood sugars. So the doctors focused on getting my blood sugars down and that plus the antibiotics should fix the infection. I was sent home from the hospital after 3 days even though the infection in my mouth had gotten even worse. 4 days latter the infection had progressed even further to the point that my pallat was deteriorating and my face started to swell and became very painful with a high tempature. That night I went back to the ER! The doctor gave me some more IV antibiotics and took a culture of the infection. He recommended I go see an ear nose throat doctor and sent me home. The earliest appointment with the ENT was in 3 days, by then I could barley eat anything and the left side of my face was filling strange (I'm not sure how else to describe it, other then numbness and occasional sharp pain) and my eye started to hurt with swelling around my eye and cheek. Once the ENT saw my mouth he immediately recognized it as Mucormycosis (an invasive fungal infection. No wonder the antibiotics were not working!) and sent me back to the hospital for surgery. That night he operated, pulling 5 teeth and the gums from the upper left of my mouth and removing 1/3 of my pallet up into the sinuses. After 2 more surgeries and another 2 weeks in the hospital I returned home on June 13th (my B-Day). Thanks for all the prayers and support!

The mortality rate for Mucormycosis is between 30% and 70%. I'm very blessed to still be alive!