The dentist said that I have a HELL of an infection in my ear, jaw, and sinus!! It's an abcess of sorts caused by years of untreated ear infections. I guess that the first step in getting rid of it is "a massive dose of antibiotics,"..which I have already started on. Then,...I guess that I have to have two root canals, which are pretty well advanced!! My teeth have no cavities in them and I feel no pain!!

The dentist could not understand just why I could sit so still while she probed around in my mouth when I had such a swollen jaw. I told her that I felt no pain. She asked me,.."And why do you feel no pain?"

"I have had two strokes in my lifetime," I told her quite placidly, "I just don't feel much pain in my mouth and jaw!! I have trouble swallowing..which I feel that I hide quite well...and my jaw on the left side is not really attached!! The muscles are so weakened that that the left side of my face is of no use to me when I chew and swallow."

The dentist looked at me, tightened her mouth and finished her examination, x-rayed my mouth, forced it to stay open with some sort of a gripping devise,..probed, picked,..x-rayed my jaw, and finished her examination. Then,..she sat down in front of me and cried!!!!!

Why would she do that?

I am the one who has to live with this "untreated mess," that a certain doctor told my mom so long ago.."was just a product of a young girl's fevered imagination!!"

"Mom,..could that doc have been a quack?"