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
Hi Kym
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog while searching for information re parotid tumors. I just received this news on Friday and am trying to get my head around it all. I am 36 with kids and have just returned to university. I am really scared as just waiting for biopsy results. I haven't told my kids but my hubbie and close family know but i am trying to carry in as usual i.e. go to university placement today but don't know if i can stop thinking about everything. Money worries are really forcing the issue but i just feel like getting up and running away somewhere, i just don't want this to be happening. I am just praying for it to be benign but still surgery sounds risky (although your story gave me hope). Anyway, i am just trying to get ready for today all my fellow students are so excited and chatting about how they are demonstrating their skills but i can't even think about all that atm. I know i need to pull myself together but this not knowing is so hard and i am not ready to be a sick person. I want to see my kids grow up. I cannot believe this is happening. Anyway, sorry for the meaningless rant. Any words of wisdom to get through this uncertainty would be great. With thanks Reah
Hi Reah,
DeleteFirst, I want you to know I've been thinking of you. Please don't ever apologize for voicing your concerns, especially here! I am hoping by now you have received some news from your doctor and know what is going on. Hopefully your doctor has a plan for how to proceed going forward too.
When I was first diagnosed, I told my husband and my parents. I'm sure he told his parents sometime within the first week, but I couldn't bear to talk to anyone else because it was so depressing. All I did was cry, day in and day out. I thought my world was going to end.
I immediately began to research the heck out of "parotid tumors", which, while it's good to get an idea of what you're in for, the internet is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad place. You will undoubtedly read horror story after horror story of folks who have been disfigured from surgery, folks who have died from the tumor (cancerous ones, yes, but even those can and do have positive surgery outcomes), etc. You will make yourself sick from the stories you'll read.
This my dear Reah is exactly why I started my blog. And it's why I truly hope when folks search for "parotid tumor", my page is brought up high in the search rankings. I want people to see it's not always bad... good things can come from it. Surgery can be performed, and with a positive outcome.
Was I terrified to face the surgery? Absolutely! I would be lying if I said I was comfortable with my decision. I made myself sick worrying about all the "what ifs" that could have happened. I drove my husband nuts too, as I voiced every concern to him. But in true husband fashion, he told me to chill out and stop worrying. I'd like to think it was because he was being very positive for me, but secretly I think he was tired of hearing me cry and freak out. Again, normal reactions when you are diagnosed with a tumor, especially when you don't know what kind or how it may affect your life.
So far for me, everything has turned out great. I had the surgery... recovery was a nightmare for a few weeks (leading into a few months), but now it's gone and I'm doing well. You too will do well, I have no doubts. But when you want to vent, cry and let off steam, please feel free to come post here. And ask any and all questions, nothing is off limits when it comes to this parotid tumor. I'm happy to help in any way that I can.
xoxox,
Kym
Kym
DeleteThank you so much for your reply. It means a lot. Lots has happened since my tear filled rant. Lots of positive stuff. Met with my consultant last week, the wait was torture. The lump is benign, the same type as yours and i am scheduled for surgery at the end of April. Although i have stopped the crying, mostly, i am sooo nervous about the operation and the scar too and obviously if there will be any lasting damage. Such a tricky place to operate on. My only concern is that although the surgeon thinks it is quite superficial i am getting throbbing pain by the lump and down my neck from the tumour. Just praying the facial nerve is miles away from it when he gets in there.
Does the scar on the neck fade away a lot? I know i should be grateful obviously that it is the best type of tumour to have but the cosmetic side of it concerns me also.
I hope you are feeling better in yourself and thank you again for posting as you did. As you said your instinct is to research but then i really freaked out. Yours was the only hopeful story i read x
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