my gum story

It’s been a while since I’ve been online for long. Haven’t been feeling myself lately. Was always feeling tired, all I wanted to do was sleep or just lie down on my bed and not think of anything. Even going for Nigerian food at Detroit didn’t seem to hit on any of my nerves (I love trying new food and going for a ride).

It all started one afternoon when I finished annotating the sequences for my finished construct, pMMB67EH-YLC, which I’ve been trying to build for the past year. I was so tired and planned to just have a slow night, watching The Notebook. I’ve seen this movie before but since it always put me in a good mood, I rented it again. After dinner, which was supposed to be ‘char bee hoon’ but I soaked the ‘bee hoon’ in the water for too long so it became more of chicken rice ball, but that was fine since it’s still edible, I pop the DVD into my computer but nothing seems to work. Everything that can be clicked on was not reacting. The only thing that worked was anything found in ‘My Documents’ folder. That pisses me off because there goes my night of just chilling at home. Went off to bed feeling down.

The feeling never did bounce up the next day either. I found a Windows XP CD from a friend and tried to install it but it wouldn’t work. BK walked me through it again and it still wouldn’t work. So we decided to try using the WinXP CD that came with my Dell laptop, which obviously is illegal but I had no choice. I really want the computer to work. It’s old but I love my computer. About one or so later, it worked! Unfortunately, it’ll only be valid for 30 days if I don’t register it, which I can’t since there is no wireless network card on my PC (I only have wireless connection at home). But at least I know there are no major problems with the hardware and I can think of an alternative while the 30 days run out.

Although my PC is up and running then, my spirit was still down most of the weekend. That was when my gum started to swell and everything I ate was tasteless or I can hardly eat more than 2 bites because it hurts. Then I started to get an infection and my lymph nodes start to swell too. Sometimes I could feel the bacteria multiplying themselves to overcome my immune system but of course, we humans are better at that most of the time. It gets so bad that I resolved to eat only porridge with carrots boiled so soft that I don’t need to bite it. Then on Sunday, it became so warm and painful that I was eating ice-cream all day. Yeah…I was sure having fun. TV and ice-cream. But NO! It was a struggle even to open my mouth. I had to talk with my teeth clenched together like I was angry.

I woke up this morning feeling really bad and that’s when I decided to stop this pain and go get some antibiotics. I could have made some in the lab but I don’t know what causes the infection so that’s when I think it’s wise to seek a Doctor’s advice. Got to Olin Health Center, waited for about 20 minutes and Dr. Huber told me that I’m getting a new tooth!!! I got the infection because there’s a new pore opening in my gums for my new tooth to come out and at the same time, the bacteria in my mouth found a new niche!! That was hilarious but I couldn’t laugh at that time because she was telling me the news while pressing on my lymph nodes. I could barely keep the tears from falling down.

However, will get the confirmation on Wednesday after I get an oral x-ray. I sure hope it’s not or if it is, it will still have space to come out. I don’t wanna go for an oral surgery. That would suck big time. But now that I know my gums will be better, I feel better although my spirits are not sky-rocketing yet. It will be once I can turn without feeling the lump in my neck, swallow without hurting, chewing happily away and knowing that it’s not a wisdom tooth but merely an infection.