[mattdavis11]

I thought I was going to die. Tuesday the 17th, I came home from work feeling really bad, tired, feverish, nauseated. I couldn't taste my beer either, so I figured I had covid-19. Quarantine. Wednesday the 18th, on the way to the testing center, I pass through an oil town, no smell. I get tested and go back home. 10pm on Thursday the 19th I get my results, negative for covid. I still felt like crap, so I stayed home.

Saturday and Sunday I felt ok, about 60%. Monday the 23rd, I was on the downhill slide again, thinking the results were a false negative, I get tested again. By then my taste and smell had somewhat returned. I began looking online for other issues that I may have that are causing covid like symptoms. I began calling Dr's offices, but they didn't want anything to do with me, either stay home or go to the ER.

I know I have a bad tooth, but no pain associated with it. I look up symptoms online, and make an appointment with a dentist for Tuesday the 24th at 2pm. I didn't get past screening, they told me to gtfo and go home or to the er. 30 minutes after I return home, my second test result come back negative again. I began to freak out, I felt awful and no one cared. I knew I didn't have covid, and the er isn't going to be able to help, they would have screened me, and sent me home because I could breath just fine.

After the 2nd result, I was fairly certain it had to be an abscessed tooth. The symptoms are nearly the same as covid-19. I call around again for other dentists in my small town of 25K, I was begging them to take me in, and did in fact tell them I did not want to die of sepsis or septicemia. Finally I got one to take me in at 9am Wednesday the 25th.

I'm in and out of the dentists office in 30 minutes with a prescription for antibiotics and pain, and diagnosis of an abscessed tooth. What a relief. Even one day later, I feel so much better after the first round of antibiotics and rest. I'm spitting stuff up like crazy.

The infection had spread throughout my body so far, that I was fighting with all I had to kill it off. So much so that I was losing senses. The symptoms that pointed me in the direction of a bad tooth was pain in my neck, as well as swelling and redness in both neck and face.

I felt so hopeless, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all who have lost, and will lose, a loved one due to a medical emergency that goes untreated due to covid. It goes without saying that I feel the same for those affected by covid.

Happy Thanksgiving all!