Mumps

I got a very unusual present for Christmas this year. I am the mother of two adult sons and grandmother to four grandchildren so I am well past the age of juvenile infectious diseases. I can remember having measles, German measles, chicken pox, whooping cough and numerous bouts with tonsillitis but I don't remember having the mumps. When I was growing up, we didn't have vaccines for any of these. It was just a rite of passage that you caught these miserable little diseases as a part of growing up.

I got up Christmas morning to make the fabulous dinner I had planned for my family. For about three days before Christmas I had a horrible headache that wouldn't go away and I felt tired and achy. I was trying to taste a sauce I was working on and when I put the spoon into my mouth the worst pain went up the left side of my face behind my ear and down my jaw. When I put my hand on my jaw it felt sore and tender. I went to the mirror and the left side of my face was swollen and 'deformed'. It was so tight it felt like it was going to bust. I couldn't even enjoy the Christmas dinner I had prepared.

I found out the next day that I had the mumps. You can only catch the mumps from another person when they cough or sneeze. I guess when I was in the crowds of shoppers doing my Christmas shopping, someone was out there sharing this very 'special' gift. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, so I'm staying away from people for another couple of days, the contagious period. Aspirin for the aches and a dry wash cloth warmed in the microwave is the remedy for the discomfort and swelling.

Beware of folks with swollen faces and please! stay away from coughing, sneezing people!!