Septic Dread

The toothache was intermittent but there was no swelling on this day, i.e. 20th February. Shall I say that my mom felt better after taking the medicines given by our family physician’s assistant? Yes, indeed, she did feel a little better. But, she also felt a little weaker and after completing the usual household chores like cooking etc., she rested for the rest of the day. Frankly, I didn’t pay much attention towards her illness except for reminding her to take her medicines before and after meals.

Toothaches are generally not taken seriously by people. Although, I knew that they could turn nasty, I was unperturbed after she started taking medicines for it. Sepsis, Septicemia or Septic Shock were strange words never heard before. Now, they are no more strange but dreadful.

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Doctor's Day Out

The swelling on my mom’s cheek had subsided a lot. But, a little pain was there. I don’t remember distinctly whether I gave her a Disprin for the pain or not.

In the evening, we went to our family physician. He was out of town. But, his assistant was available. She gave some medicines to be taken 3 times a day; a few of them to be taken before meals.

That is all that I remember happened on 19th February.

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Tooth Scary Tale

Thursday, 18th February, i.e. exactly two months ago, we had to attend a wedding of one of our family friends. I reached the venue from my work place at the time mentioned on the invitation card. But, the bride & groom hadn’t. So, wasn’t my mom.

After waiting for a few minutes, I called up my mom to ask her where she was. As she was nearing the venue, I went to the railway station located behind the venue to receive her. The bride & groom arrived as I was leaving for the station. At the station, I couldn’t find my mom even after 4-5 trains had arrived and left. I returned to the wedding venue.

While I was still looking around for my mom among the guests, my mom waved at me. She was sitting with the family of the groom. I inquired the cause of her delay. She showed me her right cheek. It was swollen. She told me that she has a terrible toothache and just about managed to drag herself to the wedding. I inquired whether she had taken any medicine for it. She replied that she had taken a Crocin tablet. I told her that she should have taken Disprin instead.

By this time, the whole clan – three generations – of the groom had gathered around us. Since, we were meeting after a long time, kids having grown taller than us, it was a family reunion and, naturally, a lot had to be exchanged.

I started chatting with the mother of the little kid who had passed away last year. I inquired about how it all happened. She said that she just couldn’t understand what went wrong. Doctors had told her that her son was alright and there was no need for further medication for his heart problem. Then, suddenly, he fell critically ill and had to be put on a ventilator. She told me that except for his teeth that were rotten there seemed to be nothing wrong with him.

Rotten teeth are very dangerous, I told her. I explained that if anything happens to the teeth or if there is an infection in the throat, the heart gets affected. I further said that her son, probably, developed endocarditis due to his rotten teeth.

Endocarditis due to rotten teeth. Rheumatic heart due to sore throat. That was what I believed till my mom developed sepsis, suffered from septicemia and had a septic shock.

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