Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Cat got your tongue?

I don't know, but something got my tongue. Wow, I have a really sore spot on the side of my tongue, way at the back. It hurts to talk, it hurts to eat, it hurts to swallow. I can feel a rough spot back there. Not sure if I bit my tongue (I've had to bite it a lot lately), or if I have a small infection.

The immediate concern is swelling and respiratory obstruction. So I took anti-inflammatory meds before I went to bed, and I mandated Miguel to sleep in the same room as me in case I obstructed. I demonstrated how I would poke him in the ribs if I got into trouble and couldn't talk. Perhaps I was over-reacting, but I like to be prepared.

Miguel is a weird sleeper. He can be in a conversation with me and if I pause for any longer than a minute between sentences, I'll look over and he'll be sound asleep. Sometimes I go up to bed and leave him sleeping on the couch or in the other room, and often he ends up just spending the night there. Which means I get the bed upstairs all to myself, and double the pillows (four pillows is just about right, no?). I also get all the sheets, it's really quite a nice arrangement.

Miguel requires less overall sleep than I do, which means he is often awake by 3 or 4 am. So on those nights when he has made it upstairs, when he wakes up early and can't get back to sleep, he will often tip-toe out of the room and head to the living room to work on his schoolwork, watch tv, or browse the internet.

This morning I woke up late - 7 am, and the spot on the bed beside me was empty. So I guess Miguel decided that I had survived enough of the night to reassure him I would not obstruct, and he trotted off downstairs.

And here I am, still alive, still able to breathe. I can even still talk, although it sounds a little funny and it hurts when I do so. Miguel and the animals will get to enjoy a quieter home front until this thing clears up. They'd all better behave, because I don't want to dole out a tongue-lashing with only partial use of my tongue. When I go on a rant, I want them to feel the full effect and to THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY DID. My message might lose some punch if I can only yell, I mean speak, at half-volume, and with a mouth full of swollen tongue.

3 comments:

Life's a Beach! said...

Yikes! Sounds like you might have a little infection. I was having problems with sores in my mouth recently and finally switched toothpaste. I was using one of those with hydrogen peroxide to whiten. But your tongue sounds a little bit worse. Hope it clears up quickly!

Bennie said...

Well I hope you are feeling better by now.

Sue said...

Still have the sore tongue but it is better than it was. Still talk a little funny. Just sort of feel blah, so maybe it's something going through my body. I'll live, I think.