Christmas vacation is supposed to be a time to relax, enjoy time with friends and family and of course, giving and receiving gifts.

But not all Christmas vacations go that way, as was the case for me this year.

The vacation started off pretty uneventfully, really.

I worked for the first few days and waited for Christmas, which came pretty quickly. It was a pretty routine holiday, going to eat dinner and opening gifts.

The week after Christmas is the week worth mentioning. It all started on Monday morning about 8:30.

I went into the dentist to get a cavity filled. My first cavity too, so I was pretty nervous never having had a cavity filled.

I went in and got settled in the waiting room and flipped through the pages of the magazine I picked up while waiting for my name to be called.

The dental assistant called my name and I followed her into the room where my doom awaited. I sat down while she put the little apron thing on me and went to get my dentist.

He came in and described the procedure before putting the numbing stuff in my cheek and waited for a few minutes.

After the procedure was done, I sat up and was a little nauseous from all the drilling and drooling, but I was done. Well, at least I thought I was done.

My dentist sat me up with a concerned look on his face. My cheek was as swollen as possible and I looked like a lopsided chipmunk.

The dentist explained to me that he did not know what happened exactly, but for some reason my cheek swelled very quickly.

My cheek was still numb so I could not feel it quite yet. I was prescribed some Ibuprofen to help with the swelling and sent on my way.

The dentist called my dad right after I got home and explained what happened with my cheek.

When they put the numbing stuff in my cheek, the needle went across a vein, and that caused the swelling. And no, it did not hurt.

I survived through work somehow, even though I was quite a sight. I could hardly open my mouth, but I was still there taking orders and giving food out.

The next day was the worst day.

I woke up with the stomach flu. And not just my stomach hurting, the hardcore stomach flu.

I was lucky I did not have to work because it was horrible. My whole family was sick all day. So here I was with a swollen cheek and the stomach flu, talk about frustration.

After a few days the swelling went down, but not soon enough.

I came back to school with a swollen cheek and a killer bruise. I had to explain what happened to everyone that asked about my cheek, or get funny looks and take it upon myself to tell people what happened over my break.

As of now, it has been two weeks as of now since I have been to the dentist and my cheek is still bruised.

I looked like I got in a fight at first, but I did not. But the visit sure made my last Christmas vacation of high school interesting and memorable.

And for the sake of my dentist, I did not mention his name, or the place.

He really is a good dentist and as he told me, what happened to me was just a fluke thing.

So I am banking on it not happening again, either that or never getting another cavity.