I WOKE UP LIKE THIS

Leaving the dentist after a check-up, I could feel a small nick in my gum, which was a bit sore. It was January 2017 and, as I was busy looking after my five kids, I really didn’t think anything more of it. But a week later, the pain was worse. ‘It’s really bothering me,’ I told my husband, Dean, then 51.

Within a few days, the right side of my face had swollen.

I was diagnosed with an abscess by the same dentist, given painkillers and antibiotics. And for a while, they worked. I was even able to go shopping for the day with my children, Chris, then 31, Connor, 20, Stacey, 26, Chloe, 17,