Man, It's Freezing Down Here

Today I woke up, got ready for work, stopped at the Kwik Trip for a coffee, and headed to the DOCTOR. I know. Crazy, right? For about a week I've had a swollen gland just below my left ear. I figured there had to be infection somewhere in my body if the gland was swollen, but still this did not persuade me to head out into the cold, raining morning to go to the doctor. On Friday my jaw began tingling. You know the feeling when you've had novocaine? That is what it feels like...puffy sort of...and it tingles every now and then. Well, on Saturday it had spread to my whole left cheek. My director sternly advised me to visit the doctor Sunday, but I objected to the emergency room bills and promised I would go on Monday. After parking a mile away from the clinic this morning and traipsing through the rain to get inside, I was fully prepared for a crappy doctor's visit. It has been so long since I've been to the doctor, I had to redo my insurance info and change my address. Then when asked about drug allergies, I couldn't remember so they looked it up. The last time I was at the doctor was 2003. (By the by...that was the time where I had chest x-rays, pink eye, more chest x-rays, and drug allergies all in a week and then ended up without insurance covering all of it and had a $700 doctor bill) I knew it had been awhile, but geez. Anyhoo, long story--short, the doctor's expert opinion was to "wait and see" if the swollen gland goes away and if the tingling will subside at that time. BRILLIANT! So, I bit the bullet. I called the chiropractor and made an appointment for 10:30am this morning. At noon I walked out of his office no better than before, but with an appointment to come back on Wednesday morning. Apparently my chronic pain requires a little research and he wanted to look into the possible connections to my neurological problems as well. So I sit here, still in pain. My neck and back are pretty crapped up today which gives me a headache. My face is numb. But for once, I'm hopeful.