Bizzarre illness, still not sure what it was?

Question

This happened when I was teaching English in China.

I was watching movies at a friend's apartment and stayed out quite late. I started to have a nagging pain in my jaw, but just figured it was fatigue and ignored it.

The next moring I woke up to find that one side of my face had swollen up to an immense size.

I ran a very high fever and vaguely remember a doctor and a nurse apparently trying to smother me with a blanket.

I never received any real diagnosis, and it's unlikely that it was mumps since I am innoculated against that. Anyone have any ideas- especially people who are in or have been to the Far East?

I had IV antibiotics every day for quite a while

Answer 1

Could've been a bacterial infection of the soft tissues of the face - such as cellulitis. These can start out when bacteria that live in the sinuses enter the soft tissues or when the bacteria that live in the mouth enter through a crack in the tooth.

This type of illness is treated with either oral or IV antibiotics but it's not particular to the Far East - it could happen anywhere.

An abscess is another possibility - that's a bacterial infection where the infection coalesces into a pus pocket. Usually abscesses need to be managed with surgical drainage along with antibiotics so if you recall any surgeries during your stay, it could've meant an abscess.

Do you recall the name of the hospital? I wonder what would happen if you requested your records from there?

Answer 2

Wow! That's quite interesting and different. From the swelling and the fever I assume it was some type of infection that went away by itself.