Got to MaxFac Clinic at the hospital at 10am this morning and went in for my emergency gum Incision minor op. It was the same surgeon who did the first one a fortnight ago. Told her the previous one had worked fine until Tuesday night when the swelling got rapidly worse. Not to worry, she says, we'll repeat the procedure, and that should reduce the swelling and pressure sufficiently until my planned surgery on October 7th.
I'd sent H away for a walk at this point, thought it would only take around half an hour, and I was already planning what I was going to do at home this afternoon. I should know better than to make plans and assumptions, because all of a sudden there is an unexpected problem. She can't do the procedure as there is no fluid in the swelling to drain.
She sends for a senior consultant for a second opinion. They are both baffled as to what this swelling in my mouth is, and why it has doubled in size in a couple of days. After much discussion they decide it could potentially be a cyst, which is worrying them.
So I get sent for an emergency CT scan. I text H and tell him to get back to the MaxFac clinic. Eventually get into the scanner at noon. Then it's back to MaxFac to wait for the results.
At 2pm we get told that the scan pictures have arrived but the Radiographer's detailed report won't be ready for a few days. However I think the surgeon is feeling sorry for H and I by this point. She says she will go down to the CT department and get a verbal report from the Radiographer. A nurse brings us both a cup of tea.
She's back at 3pm and then she wants to talk to the senior consultant. Eventually at 4pm we are called in and told that there is no cyst, there is still a chance that there is cancer in the jawbone, but the most likely explanation is that all my symptoms are caused by the ORN and the dental abscess under my lower back teeth. She explains a lot more about ORN and the operation I'll be having on Oct 7th. They will be removing 2 teeth, draining the abscess, removing dead bone from the jaw and sending it for biopsy.
Apparently my ORN treatment is going to depend on how easily the dead bone can get separated from the living bone, and how much bone they have to remove. They aren't going to be able to say until they do the op, which is scheduled for the last day of my 28 day course of antibiotics. To do it any earlier would risk more damage to the jawbone.
So there we are. Two exhausting days at the hospital and the situation is no different to what I was told two weeks ago. Definite ORN, possible cancer, and they can't safely operate until Oct 7th.
The wait goes on.
