Is that a golf ball… Nope its just my salivary gland… which is the size of a golf ball… which is extremely painful… Yes, I awoke to a large and painful lump on the left side of my face. Lumps, bumps, swelling in the area of glands or nodes… these things are utterly terrifying for someone less than a year out from a cancer diagnosis.
This bump didn’t terrify me because I've experienced it before about 4 years ago. Actually it was 4/22/06 almost 4 years ago exactly. At the time, the differential diagnoses were sialolithiasis or mumps. Yes, mumps. At the time there was an outbreak so I got some blood drawn to see if my titer showed up – it did, no mumps. So that left sialolithiasis or more simply salivary gland stones. They didn’t do any testing for this, just told me to suck on lemon drops, drink lots of fluids, and use hot compresses.
So this morning I grabbed some lemon drops and headed to work and the pain got worse… so I called my PCP for tips/tricks on dealing with this. To my surprise I was scheduled for an appointment and then sent on for x-rays. Apparently getting this more than once is a bit more unusual and needs further investigation. I got the x-rays – only about 8 views were taken – and then I was sent on my way to wait it out. I’m entirely sick of doctors, hospitals, labs, x-rays, CT’s, nuke med…
So begins the waiting game… again…
Aw, I'm sorry! But if you were here, you could help me eat the cheese souffle I just baked. I kid you not. A souffle.
ReplyDeleteBut I hope that your golf ball goes away and that it's a painless event. Love and hugs!