A couple weeks ago, I woke up with a very sore jaw. I thought maybe I had slept on it funny, or clenched my teeth accidentally, or something. I had never had a sore jaw before, although I have a bad habit of clicking my jaw back and forth. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was young, like middle school, and other than occasionally making my jaw crack, thus preventing me from doing much clicking.

But anyway, I had this jaw problem. I didn’t know what it was. The only think I could think of was lock-jaw, but my jaw wasn’t locked. I could open and close it just fine and dandy. It just hurt like a mofo when I did it. (So don’t do it! you might say. Easier said than done). I put up with it for a while. I noticed that by the end of the day it didn’t hurt so much, and that it really only hurt when I had my jaw fully extended, and who really fully extends their jaw except when yawning really big?

After 2 weeks though, I thought, “Hm… maybe I should have this looked at?” So I used Mr. Google and did some searching for dentists in my area. I made an appointment with a doctor in my area, who specializes in jaw issues. Perfect. The next day, I noticed that my jaw hurt even more than usual, and that it wasn’t extending as well as it had been.

However, after I arrived at Mr. Dentist’s office today, I was forced to wait for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, and numerous “He’ll be right with you” I said, “Look, I have to go to work. I’ll reschedule.” NOT. Dude, you know what a lunch hour is? Do you know how long a lunch hour is? AN HOUR!

On top of the whole jaw issue, it looks like I have been visited by an old friend… and not a good one. Two summers ago, when I first moved to New Jersey, I discovered large red bite marks on my lower legs. Literally, just at my knee and below. Not my thighs, not my feet, not my arms, not my stomach or back. Just the shins/calves. Very strange. The itch like mosquito bites, but they are not raised. They are bigger too, but they are just pink, not purple or black. Originally I thought they might be bug bites, but they aren’t in any noticeable pattern. There is only one on my left calf, then four on my right lower shin, one up by my right knee, and then one on my right Achilles tendon. From what I’ve seen, bed bugs have a little bit more of a pattern.

I did see a doctor, who told me they were most likely spider bites and would go away. Use cortisone cream for the itching. And they did. They came back a couple more times, but then they were gone and haven’t come back since. Originally, they didn’t look like bug bites, so I never treated my bed for it and they still went away, so I’m having trouble believing they are bug bites.

Obviously I’m going to clean my room and wash my sheets, but if anyone has any thoughts on what they could be, let me know.