A warning on pain pills

This has absolutely nothing to do with my parotid surgery, but it's a warning about pain pills that I want to share with all of you who are reading this and possibly popping pain medicine while you recover from your surgery. 

For three years consistently I took Naprosyn 500mg twice daily because of foot pain (sesamoiditis and neuromas - I could write books on these, but this blog is not the place for it). I saw doctor after doctor, trying to resolve the sesamoiditis, trying to shrink the neuromas... went to physical therapy for three months, had injections of all sorts, wore inserts, lived in sneakers... did everything I possibly could to get rid of the pain. Nothing helped. So for three years I took pain medicine every single day. 

None of the doctors warned me about problems this could cause to my body. Not one single doctor. Until this past summer I started having pains in my chest and I wondered if I was having a heart attack. My doctor ran a bunch of tests and found out my heart was perfectly healthy, but they thought I had a stomach ulcer. They sent me to a GI doctor, who performed an endoscopy, and sure enough, there were several ulcers, polyps and massive inflammation from my throat down to my small intestine. 

Do you know where I'm going here friends? I'm 38 years old. Way too young to have these problems, at least that's what the doctors have all said. And they all now pointed to Naprosyn as the culprit. I had to immediately cut it (and all ibuprofen products) out of my life, change my diet to exclude coffee, tea, caffeine, alcohol, tomatoes, red sauce, citrus fruit and juices... the list went on and on. I was put on a regimen of 40 mg Prilosec (Omeprazole) daily. 

I felt trapped in my own body this past summer, unable to enjoy any of the summer fruits or drinks, and it was all because of the damned Naprosyn. Thankfully the ulcers healed after a few months, and I have slowly incorporated most foods back into my diet (although not coffee, it was a bear to withdraw from). 

My warning to you is this - take the pain medicine for a short while. But only a short while. If you are recovering from surgery, a few weeks should be plenty. If you find you are still experiencing pain after that, I'd highly recommend talking with your physician. Do not continue to take pain medicine long term. I wish I had someone slap me back then so I wouldn't have had to undergo so many tests and deal with problems caused by the meds. So please take my warning as advice for your own recovery. 

And if you have any questions on the parotid surgery or recovery, please don't hesitate to ask.

xoxox,

Kym

Almost Four Years Out

In a few weeks it will be four years since I underwent parotid surgery to remove a pleomorphic adenoma. Never in my wildest dreams would I think this little blog would attract so many folks from all over the world. As I type this, my stat counter told me there were over 2,000 readers last month who stumbled upon this site, one way or another. And over the past 4 years, over 29.000 people have visited.

These stats make me pretty darn happy I created this site. And not because I see how many people this tumor affects, but because I realize how "not-alone" I really was, at a time when I felt completely abandoned in the world. When I first started writing, I came up with 3 reasons I was creating this site. Let's look back on them....

1. to have a place where I can track my progress. Yes, this has been a wonderful way for me to remember what I went through, see how far I've come, and to refer back when friends ask me questions about the surgery and recovery.
2. to share my recovery with my family and friends. Well, yes, that part is done and over with. Because I no longer have the tumor in my body, and it has not reappeared over the past 4 years, I don't believe any of my friends or family ever have a reason to come out to this site.
3. to help those who may be going through the same sort of health issue. This is where I feel the most proud of tracking my journey. I've had many readers reach out to me with questions and have asked for guidance while they are going through the same type of surgery. 

I've also heard amazing success stories from some of you. Your stories are what make this blog special. Your stories provide additional comfort to the thousands of you who are searching for answers on pleomorphic adenomas or may be preparing for an upcoming surgery to remove your parotid gland and tumors.

If any of you had a positive experience and would like to add YOUR STORY to this site, please reach out to me. I'm more than happy to include your story here, as there are more than enough sad and discouraging stories blasted all over the internet about pleomorphic adenomas and parotid surgeries gone bad. This site is a place to provide a reassuring and positive outlook on a rather frightening time in your lives. 

I hope as you read this you take away 2 things. 1 - if you are dealing with a pleomorphic adenoma or are about to undergo parotid surery, you are not alone. 2 - there are more negative websites and stories posted online than there are stars in the sky. But that doesn't mean there aren't as many positive stories out there. Mine is one of them. And I want you to remember that as you read other blogs and may become worried. 

You're not alone. You're never alone. Ask any and all questions, I'm more than happy to share what I've gone through. 

xoxox,

Kym