Something like the mumps!!

What I looked like in March on Cable Beach....

I thought I had immunity to most things but have recently became the patient in home isolation. I drove home from work on Wednesday thinking I must have been tired as I had a sore throat and it felt a bit thickened on my cheeks - too much smiling or grimacing! The next morning I awoke to a swollen face with bilateral parotid gland swelling - an anatomy lesson on my own body!

I found my infant welfare book that recorded I had unilateral mumps back in 1969 (thanks mum for your diligent record keeping :) My GP confirmed that I had an MMR booster immunisation in 2008. Surely it must be another virus. I went off to the hospital for blood tests and a nasopharyngeal swab with infection control and ID confirming I had to be off work for 5 days unless we could exclude mumps. The tests for other viruses came up negative and the mumps tests take ages. I took the opportuniy to catch up on emails and other work from home, but was getting itchy feet by Friday afternoon. After establishing that my patients had been immunised against mumps and giving the option of having their appointment rescheduled, I consulted with a face mask on. David had suggested I wear a burqa for the day but I thought that may offend or start unnecessary rumours!!

Days 2-5

Finally I was able to return to work on Tuesday; but wondered why I was constantly thirsty with a dry mouth. It was only as I was seeing a little baby with excess secretions and thinking about ways to manage that, I realised my salivary glands were not working properly to make saliva to keep my mouth moist. You see we learn from our patients all the time!

Anyway, after a good night's sleep and a lighter workload today (being a public holiday), I am finally beginning to feel back to normal and prepared to share the photos I took on my iphone each morning of the stranger in the mirror. It's scary to see what I might look like if 20kg overweight and older with a jowly neck! David thought I looked like Minnie Driver the first day, Rambo the next couple of days and was hoping that Dolly Parton might turn up as the swelling descended! Hoping to get back into training for my half marathon now which is less than a month away.