An Alien in My Head

It's December now, a couple of months since the alien entered my head. He snuck in so stealthily I'm not even sure when it happened. In hind-sight I think I may remember a sudden little itch near the hairline, right side, while I was sitting at the picnic table with friends enjoying the warm sun and a gin and tonic. Gave it a bit of a scratch, never thought anymore about it until ... well, until I woke up next day with a fairly large bump on my head, like I had whacked it on something.  The bump proceeded to expand into a swelling. I looked like I had bags of water under my eyes. Hmm, an allergy reaction to something?

Since I had a doctor appointment coming up in 2 days I took allergy tabs and waited. The doctor said you're not taking enough allergy meds so I began taking the maximum dosage on the label. That was Thursday. By Sunday the swelling had taken over the entire right side of my face so I beat it into emergency. The doctor there gave me prednisone, a tab a day, and it worked - swelling gone by the following Thursday. Maybe I was imagining the alien? Like it says on those TV commercials - just allergies.

The kids and grandkids arrived for a welcome and infrequent visit on Friday. Overnight the alien kicked up a fuss.  I woke in the morning knowing another trip to emergency was inevitable. The right side of my face looked like it belonged to someone else, someone unrecognizable and kinda scary. This time the doctor in emergency figured I had an abscessed tooth and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. That night we had a birthday party for my granddaughter's friend, played music, had a fine sing-a-long, a great time except for the obvious presence of the alien which we all, including myself, managed (pretended) to ignore. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy ....

I saw my dentist on Tuesday. He couldn't find any sign of an abscess. By Thursday the alien had again slipped into hiding. I saw the doctor at the clinic and he gave me the all-clear to visit my sister in the States. As far as the alien was concerned my 2 weeks in the States were uneventful. Maybe there was no alien, never was, and, if there was he'd moved on to another host...

But the alien kicked up havoc once again. Soon after returning home from my holiday I broke off a tooth - an important tooth - one which was absolutely necessary in holding in a partial plate I'd had for years. Now how did the alien manage that? This tooth proved to be unfixable and set into motion a series of events leaving me with an entire new set of upper teeth, unable to bite, barely able to chew, and feeling like I have a golf ball in my mouth. I am adjusting. I choke a lot less now. I ate a potato chip today!

My doctor says the continual pressure I feel in my forehead is nerves that were affected by the initial swelling and that I could expect to have this odd feeling for maybe 6 months or even a year.  But I know better.  It's not damaged nerves, it's "you know who". He's sleeping in there.

This leads me to wonder, what else does the alien have in store for me?