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Good Day, I have known for 15 years that I have a pleomorphic adenoma but told by 2 ENT looking at MRI scans if it is not bothering you don't have surgery. In 2013 while getting ready to a plastic surgery to have facial cyst removed the surgeon noticed the growth and stated it had to come out. The short of my long discussion is should I allow the plastic surgeon to do the surgery? He has done this surgery before and has shared success stories. I have scheduled twice and cancelled, now scheduled with the plastic surgeon in December. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am sorry I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you one way or another to have the surgery done. I would however recommend meeting with an ENT and having them look at your most recent scans (or having them order new ones so they can see exactly what's going on there).
DeleteI personally wouldn't feel comfortable having a plastic surgeon perform parotid surgery on me. The facial nerve runs directly through the gland and there's a high risk of damaging it if not performed by someone with a high technical expertise. That's my two cents. See if you can get in with an ENT before then and get their thoughts.
Best of luck,
Kym
I'm scheduled to see a ENT that specializes in this type o surgury in a week . They said its in the deep lobe of the parotid. I know you said you were a stay home mom and I know how
DeleteMuch work that is I have 5 did you experience any severe pain and do you think that I'll have to take a lil time off of work.
Hi Shantell,
DeleteI'm sorry I'm not seeing this sooner, how did your appointment with the ENT go? Did you decide to go ahead and schedule surgery?
Five children will keep you busy, my goodness, especially at this time of the year. I have two, and I work part-time, and I think I took 2 weeks off work when I had the surgery. Really I think I could have worked from home after a week, but I wasn't sleeping well, and still wasn't feeling great, so I let myself just lounge around and rest. I didn't want to work and get myself upset and frustrated dealing with incompetent people while I was supposed to be recovering.
But the kids don't sit and wait for you, so that was the hard part. My husband and parents did a lot for me, and for the house, and we had friends bring dinners over so my husband and kids could eat. I didn't ever feel like eating much, and since I felt pretty crummy I definitely had no desire to cook. So it was nice to have friends make meals and bring them over for dinner each night that first week. It just made it a little easier for my husband to not have to come home from work and deal with homework and then worry about dinner too.
Hoping you are doing well and you have a wonderful holiday time with your family. Please keep me posted and ask any questions you may have.
xoxox,
Kym
I came across this blog today and thought I'd comment, even though the last one was from 2015. I have a mass in my parotid gland, going soon for a biopsy but my ent thinks it's the pleomorphic adenoma. If so he recommends surgery, but I'm terrified. I've heard many horror stories(thanks a lot webmd) about facial paralysis, damaged nerves,disfigurement and death.So needless to say I'm about an inch away from a nervous breakdown. Did you have any facial paralysis after your surgery? I've had my lump for about two years, only recently it has begun to get bigger.literally overnight . I woke up in the morning one day and it was sticking out quite far. I'm glad your surgery went well, from the photos you can barely even tell you had anything removed. Take care
ReplyDeleteHi Steph,
DeleteLike you, I too read many horror stories on the internet about parotid surgery and pleomorphic adenomas. That's why I started this blog, truly hoping I would have a positive story (I do) to share with the world (from our stat-counter, several hundred people visit this site daily from around the world). So, please stay positive, try not to worry too much about the negative people who post online.
I will strongly suggest after your biopsy for you to get another opinion on surgery and/or treatment. And ask for a few names of surgeons and call and ask to speak to their nurses, get a feel for how friendly they are. My nurses at Dr. Chalian's office were AMAZING. I called them weekly (if not daily), leading up the surgery with more questions and more fears about whatever I had read on the internet. They were (and still are) wonderful gals who kept me calm and always reassured my worries.
I did not have any facial paralysis after the surgery, but I did experience the numbness on my lower earlobe. I wrote all about it over the years, and while it took a long time to heal, the nerves finally regenerated and the ear is fine now (four and a half years later).
I apologize, I haven't updated the blog in a while, but I do keep up with folks who ask questions. I don't really have much to share since it's healed and all is good, other than "feels good, numbness went away, etc" :) Pretty boring, right?
Best of luck to you. If you have any questions on the surgery, or once you receive the results of your biopsy, send a note on the "four years out" page - there's quite a few comments on there, and folks seem to add new comments/questions/stories often, so you can read other positive stories too!
xoxox,
Kym
I had parotid surgery two weeks ago today. I was told to put neosporin on the wound but now it has a scab. Did yours ever scab over? I am wondering if I should peel off the scab. Also, when did you Start using scar creams? (If you did)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog. Kym, you have kept everything so positive. I'm petrified to have this surgery. I'm a lot older than you so I hope my surgery goes as well as yours.
ReplyDeleteHi, I don’t know if you still monitor this blog, but I just wanted to say how useful I have found it. I was given no real guidance as to what to expect having left hospital so your information is so helpful.
ReplyDeleteCan I just ask about the pain / stinging when you eat certain foods. Can you remember how long this lasted for I am one week post-op and it has only really happened over the last 2 - 3 days but it is really uncomfortable. I think I understand that it comes from the area where the tumour originated from (below the ear). If you can recall any information I would appreciate it! Best Wishes, Sally
Hi Sally, I hope this message finds you on the road to recovery and the healing process is going well. I honestly had to look back at my blog to see when I stopped noticing tingling when eating or chewing on the side of my mouth where the incision was. The stinging was slightly there at 2 years post-op, however by 4 years I didn't note anything so I imagine it went away sometime between 2 and 4 years. But really, it was very little tingling. I do remember feeling much stronger pain, shooting nerve pain, within the first few months whenever I chewed on the surgery side or ate something sour. I hope you are well, and please keep us posted on your healing process.
Deletexoxox,
Kym