Debated on whether or not I wanted to post anything and decided to because not wanting to walk this myself.
A year ago I felt some pain in my upper teeth, right side, in my maxilla. Dentist said I was grinding my teeth so he prescribed a 'night guard' to wear at night. It didn't work so I stopped wearing it. This summer increased pain on same side, went back, he said it was a parotid gland (salivary gland) infection, prescribed antibiotics. I talked with a friend who is an ENT, who prescribed different antibiotics and steroids. Got a little better, then worse again. I saw him in clinic, he ordered a CT. Ct scheduled a week later. I said "no bueno," and since I work at that hospital and have some relationships, I walked my fat ass to radiology and they put me on the table, showed a 'mass' or 'cyst'. My buddy showed scans to a OMF doc (oral-maxofacial), said it looked like a 'dentginous cyst' and planned to see me in clinic a week later for eval and removal in the OR. In the meantime, another friend, a neuroradiologist, said he thought I needed a MRI, so I got one. Not a cyst, but a tumor, "likely a schwannoma." Cool, referred to different surgeon, surgery for this past Thursday.
So...this past Thursday I go for surgery, they go in ad it turns out to be a malignant tumor. They were shocked, so they sent out frozen pathology, twice to confirm. Ruling in for tumor, they closed me back up. Now I get a PET scan and will need to wait "one to two weeks" to get final path results back. Then surgical referral for "a big surgery," chemo and radiation.
My kids are OK, my wife is trying to be OK. Me, I vacillate between being Ok and saying "what the actual f***??". My face is very swollen and I look like I had a stroke because they were working so close to some nerves. Honestly I have felt better.
Better to have this off my chest.....
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