Lymph node swollen tooth ache

Good day all,
So some background I'm:
25M 180m 80kg -(last time I weighed) Relatively healthy, I do suffer from allergies and asthma.
So the story, my roommate was quite hectically sick and I fully expected to get sick as well, but I didn't. This was little more than a week ago and at the same time I had a huge zit that had a bit of a green tinge in the puss that I removed.
Then I found a swollen lymph node (I think that is what it is) that was about the size of a pea and a smaller one right next to it, not big enough to be seen on my face, only felt when you feel underneath my chin towards my throat.
Reasons why I am worried:
It has been 2 weeks already. It doesn't hurt at all. It feels rubbery, but it does seem like I can. move it with my finger though not much. The zit has disappeared and I don't have any other noticeable ailments. I am quite tired, but I work weird shift hours so It could be that, I am still able to easily do my everyday life, but I'm definitely tired.
Reasons why I'm not worried:
I have no other cancer symptoms(no night sweats, fever, intense fatigue) It feels quite smooth and round. I think it has gotten softer, but I could be imagining it.
I am trying to see a doctor, but getting an appointment takes some time. Thought I'd get some input from here in the meanwhile.

I wondering if I could get help figure out if I have a cold or it’s just allergies. On Sunday, my throat felt a little funny and by Monday morning I woke up with a sore throat no other symptoms. Monday night I took 50mg Benadryl and ibuprofen 600mg. Tuesday morning my sore throat was gone but I began to have nasal irritation. Today, I still have the nasal irritation and I’ve been sneezing and coughing more, my eyes little are swollen. I don’t feel fatigued nor do I have muscle aches. I took a Covid and strep throat test on Monday both came back negative. I took another Covid test today it’s negative. Does this sound like allergies?

did anyone experience a swollen lymph node in your jawline after wisdom teeth surgery?
mine is small and moveable, between my lower cheek and jawline. I just noticed it today (day 15) because I was massaging my jaw.
it’s on the left side which was the most painful side after surgery for me (top and bottom were impacted). my gums are still kinda sore on that side. I also had cold symptoms after surgery (sore throat, cough etc).
like a lot of people on this sub I have health anxiety so just wondering if this happened to anyone else before freaking out lol!

As the title states, I recently had a first rib resection and scalenectomy that led to some hefty complications. I’ll try to explain it briefly and how I was told.
During the surgery, there was a chyle leak from the thoracic duct as well from the lymph node in the incision spot. This led to a partially collapsed lung and me having a chest tube for around 5 days after the surgery From my understanding, this is a common complication, but the thoracic team expressed the amount of leakage was concerning (roughly 2 liters day 1 of the chest tube, a little over 1 liter day 2). They mentioned that there could be signs of lymph node(s) not working properly.
Is there any validity to this? What could this be a sign of and Should I schedule an appointment with a doctor to address this?
Thank you 🙂

Hi Reddit,
I'm asking on behalf of someone who's considering IPL hair removal. They've undergone radiotherapy targeting their chest and had lymph nodes removed under their arm. Additionally, they've had pelvic radiotherapy which could affect the pelvic lymph nodes and potentially lead to leg swelling.
Given these conditions, is it safe for them to use IPL hair removal treatment? We're concerned about the effects on sensitive skin and the risk of lymphedema.
Has anyone here with a similar medical background tried IPL? What precautions did you take, and what has your experience been like?
Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I’m on day 13 of being symptomatic, and on day like 5 of the worst, most painful sore throat situation I’ve ever experienced. I’m not sure I’ve ever been in this much pain in my whole life. My throat is so swollen with like huge white patches on it. I can’t talk, I can’t eat, it takes painful, cartoonish effort to even swallow a sip of water. I can’t even sleep at night the pain is so bad. I haven’t slept at ALL in two days and a couple days ago i was prescribed prednisone for my throat, but it isn’t helping yet, it’s still just getting worse and more painful. Not even trying to be dramatic but I don’t even want to watch tv anymore. All I do is sit in silence and on again off again cry while i sip on water. Is it supposed to be this bad, has anyone else has prednisone for this? When does it start helping? I’m losing my mind. I can handle the fevers and body aches and inability to do anything. I cant handle this sore throat thing. Please please give advice and recommendations because i’m exhausted and so hungry and can’t handle this pain!!! It’s bad enough that as a serious nicotine addict of many years, I haven’t touched a vape or a cigarette in over a week. Idek if I can emphasize how big of a deal for me that is. This really hurts. Advice pls

I am a non-smoker, wisdom teeth extracted. No history of cavities.
For 3-4 weeks I have had localized pain by my bottom right back molar, on the inside. The inside gum is swollen. I could feel something sharp for many days when pressing my tongue in the area and then a few days ago, a small sliver of what only could be a tooth came out.
This temporarily relieved the pain. The pain is specific to just that one spot. A few days later, I once again felt a sharp piece of what I assume is tooth in the same spot. I also started experiencing a mild sore throat on the same side.
Today, my tongue cannot feel the sharp tooth at all. I can still feel a pinpoint hole, but maybe it's closing? The pain when pressing on the spot is also less today.
Any ideas? I'll go to a dentist but I do not have dental insurance so trying to prepare myself for a potentially large bill.

I am hoping to get some advice or hear some similar experiences here to see if this is normal with ME/CFS. I had a Covid infection in Feb of 2023, no major symptoms at the time. In early April I started having itchy, burning lungs, the lymph nodes on my neck were visibly swollen and I was tired and sleeping all the time as if I took a bunch of sedatives.
Over the past year now these symptoms haven’t improved. My family Dr sent me for neck ultrasounds when my neck was swollen, ordered bloodwork (to rule out cancer) and I also got a neck CT. I was later referred to a specialist who went over everything and suggested I may have ME/CFS.
My question for this community is whether when flaring up it’s normal to get swollen lymph nodes in the neck and feeling like you’re coming down with the flu (but no fever or actual infection). It seems to be perplexing my family dr that the lymph nodes will go down but then swell back up and be quite sore for days at a time. At the the same time I usually feel quite tired and it causes me a lot of stress. Essentially once a week sometimes for days I feel quite ill, especially if I walked to much or was stressed out.
Is there a reason this happens despite everything else being ruled out? My guess is the body thinks or has a remnant of a virus that is being repeatedly activated and so the immune system flares up despite there not being anything there. How many others here experienced this?

Hey everyone, new to this sub but I need to vent. My mum was diagnosed with stage 4 oropharyngeal cancer in September and had 6 weeks of radiotherapy ending just before Christmas. She has a slew of health problems due to both genetics and many years of heavy alcoholism so radiotherapy was the least risky treatment, and it was really hard on her. Ever since November her face and neck have been so swollen she can barely talk, she can't swallow anything and has to be fed via an NG tube, she's in constant severe pain and can barely breathe sometimes.
Recently she had a CT scan and they said there was too much swelling to tell if it was still in her neck but confirmed it wasn't in the lymph nodes anymore. She then had an endoscopy where they said it looked promising, and I was trying not to get my hopes up but we really thought that maybe the cancer was actually gone and all the swelling etc she has was just side effects of the treatment that would eventually fade, and maybe she'd be able to have a relatively normal life again!! But no, today she had surgery for a biopsy and the cancer is still there, if anything it's grown in her neck and is spreading up into her face. They can't do anything except immunotherapy, which they're hoping will slow things down a bit but ultimately this is it.
I sort of feel like I'm floating, like this isn't real? I feel some sort of weird relief in the certainty, like instead of constantly wondering if she can recover at least we have an answer now, and can prepare for it. Does that make sense? I obviously feel upset, despite everything mum put me through in the past I truly love her more than anyone else on the planet, I don't want her last moments to be in pain. What's breaking me is that she can't even talk right now, will I ever even be able to have a conversation with her again?? We only started recovering our relationship over the last few years, I was actually looking forward to sharing big life experiences with my mum and being by her side and I just feel like it's so, so unfair. And I'm also like, what am I meant to do?? Do I just carry on with life like normal? Do I move back in with my parents? What's even a normal reaction in this situation?? I also just feel kind of frustrated, don't get me wrong i LOVE the NHS and me and all my family would be long gone without it but it feels like we've been told so many different things and had such high hopes this whole time, nevermind having to wait so long for certain appointments.. I appreciate everything the doctors have done but I think i'm justified in feeling a bit angry
Sorry for the long post, not expecting anyone to reply to this or anything this is purely a vent. If anyone else is in a similar situation though then all my love to u ❤️

My 3 year old daughter had an elevated calprotectin level of160 in November..it wasn't too concerning, but doctor repeated it a few weeks later and it had jumped to almost 700! We then did an EGD/colonoscopy. Results were normal, so still no answers. She just had an MRI and these are the results. I know everything is normal, but the lymph node part is concerning. Im hoping it's nothing, but it still doesn't explain the elevated calprotectin and chronic diarrhea.
PROCEDURE: MRI abdomen and pelvis with and without contrast.

 HISTORY: Abdominal pain and diarrhea. COMPARISON : None. FINDINGS : Exam was performed with MR enterography protocol. Initial precontrast axial and coronal sequences were obtained after patient ingested one-2 L of water. This was followed by postcontrast coronal and axial weighted lava sequences . Patient was also injected with 0.4 mg of glucagon intravenously prior to scanning. Exam was monitored by pediatric radiologist during the entire study. The initial images show no hydronephrosis. The liver, gallbladder, pancreas and spleen are normal. Bladder is normal in contour. No renal masses. Large amount of stool fills the colon. Appendix is visualized and is normal. Mildly prominent mesenteric lymph nodes near the ileocecal valve region No necrotic changes within these nodes. Nodes Measure between 1-2 cm. No dilated loops of large or small bowel. No small bowel bowel wall thickening or edema in the mesentery. No wall thickening seen within the colon. The terminal ileum is unremarkable. In the perianal region, there is no edema or fluid signal to indicate active inflammation. No abnormal enhancement. Minimal bibasilar atelectasis. IMPRESSION: MR enterography showing large amount of stool throughout the colon with prominent 1-2 cm lymph nodes predominantly in the right lower quadrant. No bowel wall thickening or inflammatory change identified. No ascites. No suspicious changes in the terminal ileum. 

Hey everyone, so it's been 3,5 month that I am taking accutane 40mg. I have inflamatory back and shoulder acne. And I had a lot of health problems. The first 1,5 months was okey. But its been 2 months every bones on my body hurts me. I have lymph node from 2 months in my neck, clavicle. And I have constipation to. I thought is was lymphoma, got to the doctor we did blood test (Idh, crp and CPC) and a scanner of the entire body. Everything seems okey told me the doctor. So I am still anxious, I saw maybe 5 different doctor. I am always tired to.
And its been 3 weeks I feel depersonalization and like pressure on my heart (like when you are stressed). We did some blood test last week everything is okey except my cholesterol that is a little bit high. My doctor told me to take 20mg now unstead of 40mg. I am seing great result on my back but I am thinking to stop it, I feel like I am in a dead body.
Do you think is accutane ? I an really afraid that its something else. Thanks!

Hello, on Monday I had a bottom right back molar extracted due to an impacted wisdom tooth crowding. It was a rough removal with lots of tools and necessary roughness to get it out. Everything looked good yesterday and I wasn’t in any pain. Fast forward to this morning, I woke up with my gum super swollen and bleeding profusely with deep throbbing pain from my ear into my neck. I called the dentist for some idea on if it’s normal and they haven’t called me back. I am on ibuprofen and Doxycycline since I am a diabetic. It’s still bleeding pretty good even though I e I ed the face and even used wet gauze on the hole. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? I’m just worried about getting an infection in the bones honestly. I’ve never had an extraction before and everywhere online says it shouldn’t bleed after the first day. Any help?

I had a total thyroidectomy in 2017. At the time, the pathology report said they got all the cancer.
Now I seem to have a lymph node that is questionable. My endocrinologist is sending me for a biopsy. However, the scheduling person in the interventional radiology department can’t figure out what my doctor ordered!!! She’s on it though.
I don’t even know what to feel. I’m almost 39. It’s been 7 years. I thought they got it all the first time. I’m so bummed, and waiting for all these people to coordinate is also so annoying. It’s 2024, it’s all electronic!!
The absolute worst part? My mom is going to insist on driving me for the biopsy. But I don’t wanna have to clean my house for her to come by!!!

My son has had swollen neck nodes since February. 2 rounds of antibiotics, negative EBV test and ultrasound done a month ago. He just had his short term follow up ultrasound on Monday and these are the results:
Is this concerning? Whats likely the next steps ?
Comparison: 4/9/24
Right neck 17x10x11 mm level 1 lymph node, with preserved fatty hilum, previously 15x9x14mm
12x6x10 mm level 2, not previously identified
Left neck 11x6x11 mm level 2, not previously identified
15x7x14, previously 17x 8 x 12 mm
IMPRESSION: Bilateral cervical lymph nodes as detailed above. Further assessment should be based on clinical grounds. Serial physical exam and correlation with appropriate laboratory analysis recommended to exclude lymphoproliferative process. The needs for follow up imaging should be based on clinical grounds

I moved to Germany to live with my boyfriend. It's been 6 months and I'm unemployed because I can't speak german yet, so we decided I will just look for a part time job while I go to a german course. 3-4 months since I moved, my cat's eye changed and we went to a vet. Fast forward to now, vets still don't know what's wrong with my cat; at first they said it was inflammation, then tumor, we did full body scans and they said the lymph node is a bit bigger than normal and the bone narrow is a bit lower, but they also said it might mean nothing, and so we should just come for a blood test in 3 weeks. They said it looks more like an inflammation and gave us stronger eye drops, but if it doesn't go away, then "there is an underlying issue; most likely cancer".
After 2 weeks, her eye only got worse despite the meds. For the past 5 days she's been barely moving, eating, using litter box once a day at night, completely stopped playing. Yesterday and today she started eating more, became a bit more playful and completely stopped hiding under the bed. Now, I started thinking it might not be cancer, maybe she just went blind on the eye (it's completely red now, full of inflammation) and now she feels a bit better because it doesn't bother her anymore.. Tomorrow is the blood test to check if it's cancer, but... no matter the result I will be sad. Yes, I want my cat to live, but since I'm unemployed, it's my boyfriend that payed for all the diagnosis. He spent now over 1k and he said it must stop.. it feels like the vets just keep playing ping-pong with us, giving us false diagnosis just to keep pumping money from us. He said he will pay for euthanasia, but if it's not cancer then he doesn't want to keep going and paying for the vets to keep playing us. It's been half a year and I feel like a parasite, a leech. I, myself can't keep asking him to pay for my cat, because he's done more than I could've asked for. Tomorrow I will go with my cat hoping it's the cancer, hoping we can just put her down to stop her pain, because even if I get a full time job in a factory tomorrow, I don't know if my cat will be able to keep going for another month or 2 till I get my paycheck and be able to get her to vet and pay on my own.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Who tells you and when do you find out if RAI worked?
Quick history: diagnosed sed with PTC in December. Confirmed spread to lymph nodes n neck in January. Total thyroidectomy in March along with removal of 9 lymph nodes. Everything came back positive for PTC. RAI in early April, pre scan showed no metastasis outside of neck. Had post scan a week after RAI.
I called nuc med yesterday since I had not seen the results of the post scan yet. The doctor called me back and confirmed that there is no metastasis outside of the neck compartment. At the time I was happy and concluded the conversation, but now I am questioning, when do I find out if I am clear? Is that what the follow up bloodwork is for in a couple of months? I was hoping to ring a bell or something? Trying to put my mind at ease. Thanks

Who tells you and when do you find out if RAI worked?
Quick history: diagnosed sed with PTC in December. Confirmed spread to lymph nodes n neck in January. Total thyroidectomy in March along with removal of 9 lymph nodes. Everything came back positive for PTC. RAI in early April, pre scan showed no metastasis outside of neck. Had post scan a week after RAI.
I called nuc med yesterday since I had not seen the results of the post scan yet. The doctor called me back and confirmed that there is no metastasis outside of the neck compartment. At the time I was happy and concluded the conversation, but now I am questioning, when do I find out if I am clear? Is that what the follow up bloodwork is for in a couple of months? I was hoping to ring a bell or something. ear? Trying to put my mind at ease. Thanks

Here’s what I don’t entirely understand: HAV-IgG = “positive” and HAV-IgM = “> 10” what does this “> 10 mean?” Are these indicative of acute hepatitis A infection?
Some other context:
Labs: elevated liver enzymes (ASAT, ALAT, gamma-GT, Alk. Phosphatase), mild jaundice of eyes in patient with blood bilirubin only slightly elevated, triglyceride high, HDL low, LDH high.
CRP normal and WBC normal.
Radiology: ultrasonography and CT revealed no abnormal pathologies of liver, gallbladder, pancreas, except slightly enlarged lymph nodes in abdomen.
I see that hepatitis may not have any radiological abnormalities, but wouldn’t acute hepatitis show elevated WBC and CRP?
Patient was recently in Thailand for travel, is a 26 y.o. male.

My dog was diagnosed with Non-epitheliotropic cutaneous T cell lymphoma. We started chemotherapy yesterday and he had his first dose of CCNU. He also had a shot of L-asparaginase and Prednisone 20mg 1.5 tablets. The oncology team has done a great job of preparing/informing us about how poor his prognosis is - they told us median survival with chemo is 4-6 months. However, today we've seen a significant reduction in his skin lesions and he seems more perky than he has been the last few weeks. I realize this is likely from the Prednisone but is it possible he's already having a response to the chemo? Is it to soon to hope he'll have an excellent response to chemo? They warned us that his prognosis is based on the lymphomas response to the chemo. He has skin lesions distributed over his entire body but his lymph nodes aren't enlarged and the needle aspirations showed no lymphoma. His blood work was all normal as well. We hope he'll have a good response to chemo and won't be the average for survival but are preparing for the worst and making whatever time he has left the best. They also warned us how lymphoma is unlikely to cause his death but he will eventually be covered in open wounds that will severely impact his quality of life. So at that point we will need to make end-of-life decisions.

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u/spacepaladin15 's universe.
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Junior Exterminator, ‘Little Yortu’ Colony Cleanup Division
Date [standardized human time]: July 27th, 2125
Everything hurt.
There was dirt and dust between each of my feathers and every single muscle ached and screamed in protest. I wanted to pluck every feather off of my skin and soak forever in warm water until I stopped feeling this way.
Sadly, I didn't have time for that since I, along with the 4 other junior Exterminators of my squad, stood to attention as our commander stared each of us down as he walked among us with his pristine feathers and dirt free uniform. A stark difference to the 5 of us who had actually done the work.
“Very good job squad. Sector UG-4 is now considered cleansed of all predatory taint. We have done a good job today!”
We? That was a very strong word to use, as Officer Parsim had done nothing but sit and ‘direct’ us instead of actually aiding us like he should have according to regulations. Of course, giving the idiot a flamer to use would probably end with him setting himself on fire, so perhaps it was for the best.
“Yes sir, although it would have gone faster had you completely filled the flamer canisters before we left, and-”
“Junior Exterminator Estala! As always, I did not ask for your opinion or commentary.”
I could see Parsim’s feathers bristling with anger as I spoke up. Neither of us liked the other, both for the same reason. Parsim was incompetent. The most incompetent person I had ever met. I could never understand how someone as incompetent and lazy as this Krakotl had managed to become even a standard officer, let alone in charge of a squad of Junior Exterminators. If there was a task required to be completed, the officer would fail to do so, and if they did do anything, they did it with a complete lack of preparation or adherence to even the simplest of regulations.
“Also sir, having only 5 people accomplishing the task instead of six, results in the lack of a rear guard. This is counter to the suggested den clearing process defined in appendix PTY-61, which-”
“I said I did not ask! Since you are always so knowledgeable about what should be done, you can use that experience as a Junior Exterminator and show ‘leadership’ by taking tonight’s guard duty.”
Parsim didn’t like me because I would continually point out his incompetence, not that I planned on stopping. Originally I had assumed the seasoned officer had his reasons for these mistakes, that experience would show some avenue for Extermination I didn’t foresee.
However, it had been six months. Six months of blatant incompetence. I couldn’t hold my beak for that long, every bird has her limit. Every rule he broke, every time he failed, it put people’s lives in danger. No matter how many admonishments or punishments he doled out, I at least had to try before something bad happened. Not that the officer looked like he was going to change, at least before my last few months here on the colony were up.
“Yes sir.”
I stated these words with as little annoyance as possible, deciding not to push the issue further. Fighting for this idiot to actually become competent was something for another day, for now I wanted rest. Rest of the predators and their piercing eyes, blood soaked claws and large rows of grinning teeth.
“Good. Dismissed, get cleaned up.”
The five of us filtered towards the temporary barracks, wings and bodies aching as the day's events took their toll on us. Crawling through dirt tunnels, tracking down dens, and eradicating them was a strenuous task, only slightly washed away with warm water and a new uniform. I eventually made my way back to my room and crawled onto my perch. I wanted to sleep, but the upcoming guard duty made that impossible, giving me half an hour to rest instead.
“I don’t get why you keep antagonizing him, Estala. He’s not going to change and you’re just going to get his ire.”
Talsim entered the rooms, a concerned look in his eyes as my bunkmate and fellow Junior Exterminator took his own perch next to mine. Somehow, after a whole day of crawling through predator infested tunnels, he still managed to look fabulous after a shower and basic preen.
“Because he’s going to get someone killed,” I responded. “Even today, I noticed he was constantly staying as far away from the predators as possible. If anything went wrong… I don’t understand how he’s even an Exterminator.”
“Dad says a lot of people join just for the prestige, then freak out whenever an actual predator appears.”
Talsim was the complete opposite to Parsim, smart, capable, with family ties to the Exterminators. A bright spot in the otherwise rather depressing past few months. The planet was infested with mammalian predators, larger than a Krakotl, teeth a doorway to their cruelty, eyes glowing yellow in the dark.
I had indeed gained more experience with predators than I could ever want on this planet, and seen the results of their evils inflicted upon my fellow Exterminators as we cleared out this new colony for the Krakotl people.
Frankly, I was looking forward to being back on Nishtal.
The two of us sat in silence as we both tried to get our energy back from the gruelling day’s tasks, as the minutes continued to tick by. Talsim continually fidgeted and glanced around, as if he had something on his mind as I sat there trying not to fall asleep.
“Estala…” He said, finally hitting the courage to break the silence. “I… I really don’t like clearing out the dens. The way they… I know they’re predators but…”
I knew exactly what Talsim was talking about. I didn’t like doing them either.’ Not because of the danger, but because of the aftermath. The smell of burning fur flesh, the sounds they made while fire consumed their predatory taint, the helplessness of the predator pups.
No, I knew exactly what Talsim meant. But it had to be done, for the safety of the herd.
“I think… I think everyone thinks that way, Talsim. That’s what makes us prey: our empathy. Even though we know it has to be done, we know it’s not noble work. But it is necessary. I just think that most Exterminators prefer to avoid talking about it, because we know how many lives we’re saving by removing the predators.”
“Not everyone. Quala seems to be very happy.”
I gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of the other Junior Exterminator. She always seemed to take full glee at the destruction of predator dens, eyes alight with joy as fire rained down upon her predatory enemies.
“There is something wrong with her. It might not be predator disease but… something.”
“I dunno, it just feels like everyone else knows what they’re doing. You with your rules, Quala taking down predator dens, and so on. I know my dad wanted me to get into the family business, but I’m not sure if I’m cut out for this.”
I couldn’t help but feel a level of despair at such words coming out of the beak of Talsim. The Krakotl had become my best friend over these last six months, funny, kind-hearted, and actually competent. The thought of him leaving the Exterminators, not thinking he was good enough…
“Nonsense! You are brave and do the right thing when you need to. There’s nobody else I’d rather have protecting my back against the predators. You’re already a better exterminator than Parsim.”
“A pile of rocks with a flamer draped on top would be a better Exterminator…”
We both laughed at that, the tension in the room evaporating as we both commiserated over the incompetence of the Exterminator Officer in charge of our squad.
“See, if he can make it, you definitely can. Remember: we’ll be full officers with colony expedition experience once we’re done here, not juniors any more! I’ll transfer to your department, we can work side by side, rise in the ranks, and keep Nishtal safe together.”
“Yeah, that does sound nice.”
“Estala and Talsim, Exterminating duo extreme! The Arxur won’t know what hit them!”
—----------------------
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Date [standardized human time]: March 6th, 2137
How did people do this? Seriously, what did normal people do in their free time? Joseph was out doing something predatory with his cats, leaving me alone in the apartment to chill out. I was sad, comfortable on my perch, a large fluffy blanket wrapped around my body as I cradled a cup of warm mango tea in my hands. I was supposed to be relaxing and letting my body heal…
So why couldn’t I relax?
Scrolling Bleat and the endless discussion about the war and predators didn’t keep me calm and there was only so much daytime TV one bird could watch. Going outside was out of the question as I’d inevitably see something that needed fixing, ending with me doing work again. So I tried to relax in silence, the curtains drawn across the window creating a nice darkness to calm down in as I tried to slow my breathing. It didn’t work, I wanted to be out there, doing good in the world, anything other than sitting here.
It wasn’t always like this, what did you do on your time off?
Well there was the Krakotl reality TV show “Wings of Love”, which was a guilty pleasure of mine. I was a fan of the Diva Scene in southern Nishtal. Occasionally I’d follow speed flying, especially since the local Skalga athletes generally did very well on the galactic level due to the increased gravity here.
Oh, I’m seeing the problem. None of those things exist any more, Nishtal is gone.
Work had been a perfect distraction from the whirlwind of painful changes over the last 6 months of my life. Nishtal was no more, every single algae bar or Diva stand I’d ever visited was destroyed, every single person I knew was probably dead. While I hadn’t been there for nearly three years, it was still… home. I wasn’t close with anyone on Nishtal any more, but there were still good people I knew…. had known there.
Even the Extermination Fleet had contained Exterminators I considered good people, lied to by the Federation and tricked into committing a horrible crime. Heck, if I was being honest with myself, I would have been just one more name on those ships if I hadn’t been stationed on Skalga when all this began.
It’s kinda ironic that Kalsim managed to kill far more Krakotl than humans with his actions… the bastard.
Then there were the other thoughts that constantly bombarded my mind. The omnivore reveal, the amount of murders I’d let happen under my watch, the revelations about the PD facilities, the ecological damage I’d caused on every planet I’d been stationed on…
Nope nope nope nope. Let’s stop thinking about this. Distract myself with anything, anything at all.
I opened my work email, using work once again as a distracting refuge, only to see an actually important email that required my response.
Re: Dawncreek Exterminators reform and restructure.

My dearest Estala. I have read your proposal for the reopening of the extermination offices of this district and the reimplementation of their funding. I will admit that your restructuring proposals were fairly radical for someone who is still an advocate of the exterminators.
However, after careful consideration of the impact of the organization, I fear that I must decline the proposal. I have come to the conclusion that, for the well-being of the citizenry, you and all others wishing for its reimplementation should commence a regime of self fornication as my district shall be better as strangers to the institution of extermination.
I thank you for your time,
High Magister Rolem of Dawn Creek

By Inatala’s talons… Magistrate Rolem was an interesting case. While most Exterminator CO’s and Magistrates were resistant to the changes I was trying to implement due to a fear or hatred of the ‘predatory’ humans they represented, Rolem was the complete opposite: He was so pro-human that the Venlil was trying to eradicate the Exterminators of Dawncreek, instead merging their duties with the police force.
Unprofessional insults aside, I didn’t blame him too much considering what had happened at Dawn Creek. I wasn’t completely against the idea of copying the humans in that regard, if it wasn’t for the simple issue: It wasn’t working. While in the short term the district was better off without the shambolic incompetent idiots who used to ‘protect’ the area, the long term solution wasn’t trusting their safety with police officers who could hardly look a human in the eyes without fainting.

Dear idiot face.
Can you spehing actually read the email I sent. It’s not working. I’m getting the surrounding districts to cover for you before someone notices and tries to recall your seat, but I can only do that for so long you feather chewing idiotic-

I paused, taking a deep sigh before deleting that text and rewriting the email to something I could actually send.

Dear Rolem.
I understand your hesitance to rebuild the Dawn Creek Exterminators, and while I’m not against the idea of your plan in theory, the issue is the current police force joined their roles without expecting such ‘predatory’ work to be within their job description.
As you can see in the data I sent (Please see previous email), a significant number of calls to the police force are being refused and not dealt with, especially surrounding the categories of violent crime (Or what was previously classified as Predator Disease), interacting with humans, and predator sightings.
The Exterminators who joined this job did so because they wanted to protect the herd from such problems, unlike the police who originally joined to aid us all in different ways. I’m currently instructing the four surrounding districts to aid in these excess calls during this transition period, but this is not a long term solution.
If you would like to discuss this proposal further, please do not hesitate to email or call me.
Prestige Exterminator Estala, Human Methods Advisor, Dayside City Head Office.

With the more professional email sent, I once again found myself in the dark with nothing to do. I browsed my emails idly for a few moments, scrolling Bleat through the normal barrage of hate mail I got from both pro and anti-human Venlil, before finding myself back at a familiar website, one that had changed so much of my outlook.
FederationColdCases.human.fed.vp
A human created site, dedicated to parsing through “Predator Attacks” and working out which ones were actually murders, which ones I had failed my duties on. There were a lot of murders originally classified as predator attacks. That realisation had broken me. Prey murdered prey as if they were predators, meaning there were no prey or predators in the galaxy, only people.
They also tended to dump every password they could find on Venlil systems, Exterminators included. There had been a back and forth between me and the predators on this site, one that I was frankly losing, especially based on the new post added to the site.

New Thread: Estala’s new password.
“BzB&G_6?wC{k4oqq,je%.uO;T`uznif6;<(8~B”
Hi Estala! I know you’re reading this as you keep resetting your password.
So Estala’s password creation skills have increased since we started doing this. For a quick refresher on all the things that have changed.
Stopped using Inatala as a base.
Stopped using Protector, Exterminator, Predator, Prey, Mango, or any dictionary word as a base.
Stop using passwords containing simple numbers (1234, 1254, her birthday, etc etc)
Stopped using passwords of length lower than 15
Stopped using the same password for her email as her Exterminator account.
Stopped falling for Phishing attacks claiming to provide “Free mangos for Exterminator logins”.
Turned off autologin.
Turned off fast checkin mode.
Now, I ‘could’ just login using the head exterminator for Skalga’s login (Password is STILL “Protector134”), and use that to reset Estala’s password and gain access, but that feels like cheating.
Instead I found a remote code execution exploit using a faulty heartbeat command, allowing for the password to be returned. It should be noted yet again that the section of the Exterminators database containing Exterminator personal information is not susceptible to this attack, showing that the UN did a bunch of hardening there (As well as Venlil banking systems, etc etc)
The attack works by finding the central node to the district you’re attempting to attack, this can be done by using….

I felt my brain start to leak out of my ears as the technical jargon on the screen in front of me caused my vision to swim. The humans took it as a game to continually break into my secure system, taking joy every time I failed to stop them. I had evidently hit the limit of my expertise…
Memo to self: Hire a human to harden the Exterminators systems. And change my password. Again.
I gave a sigh as I continued to browse the site, looking for anything to distract myself with, until I found something I hadn’t seen in a while.
The Heartbreak killer. The first case I’d been shown proving that prey killed prey, a series of predator attacks that had turned out to be something the humans called “a serial killer”. Right at the bottom of the thread filled with theories and evidence gathering, including one annoying comment suggesting that I was the killer, was a single message left a few hours ago.
“What happened to this case, did we get any news?”
We hadn’t. The killer had killed three people, then hadn’t struck again; no leads, no more evidence, no new possible information. A thought started to creep into my mind: I had some spare time, I had the resources and newfound knowledge about human investigative skills, and there was nothing stopping me from giving this case a solid deep dive to see what I could uncover. Technically, it wouldn’t even be official Exterminator work, meaning it was fine, and I wasn’t breaking my promise to my best friend!
Joseph had told me to find a human hobby. Technically, human hobbies included solving cold cases…
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im going to try to keep this relatively short. i am 24F, no concerning medical history only taking birth control, fiber supplement, and using flonase.
since the end of january this year i have been having jaw pain on my upper right side, headaches that are on my right side 98% of the time (almost daily, vary in severity), fatigue, neck pain, some tightness in my throat, and on and off dizziness of various intensity. it almost constantly feels like there is pressure on the right side of my head. i had both a head CT and MRI that came back clear in March.
last night i started noticing some pain behind my left ear, which was unusual because everything up to this point has been on my right side. it is more painful when i push down on it and is sore when i move my neck to the side, almost feels like a bruise. today i was feeling around back there and noticed a really small bump where it is. it’s also a little itchy around the area. again this is the only symptom i’ve had on the left side of my head so i’m very confused.
i’m also hesitant to reach out to my PCP again because i think she thinks that i’m crazy since my MRI/CT both came back clear in march. She told me at my last visit she thinks i’m just having migraines.
is this something i should tell my PCP about? is it unusual that for the past five months all of my symptoms have been on my right side and now i suddenly have a swollen lymph node (i’m assuming) on my left side?