Every once in a while, I get a comment from a thyroid cancer survivor who's found my blog. I'm only too happy to help and hope that they get some comfort or reassurance or sympathy from reading my cancer experiences. I know it helped me to talk to people who had been through it before and I would have loved to stumble across a blog by a "thycan"!
Oh, btw, I forgot to tell y'all that my good friend at work, Jen, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer right as I was leaving! Can you believe that??? Seriously, we were the dynamic duo, our offices were right across the hall from each other and we worked the same issues tag team style. She's my age, similar lifestyle... anyway, she found a lump in her neck, just like I did! She asked me about it one day and I just told her I was sure it was nothing. Now she is going to have surgery pretty much on the exact same day as me, right before Thanksgiving! Our office in the State Department is launching an investigation to find out whether the two cases are related, even though I told them I found my lump before I ever even moved to D.C. Who knows... I'm interested to find out if they discover anything.
So! Mike S. Thanks for your comment! I hope your girlfriend is doing ok and please tell her to email me if she has any questions (new.michelle@gmail.com). As for the salivary gland pain, mine started after I was treated with radioactive iodine (RAI), which is the standard treatment for thyroid cancer, but doesn't happen usually until 8 weeks after the surgery to remove the thyroid. The RAI concentrates in the salivary glands and basically nukes them, which is an undesirable side effect of an otherwise very effective treatment! If your girlfriend hasn't been treated with RAI, then it's somewhat more mysterious... not sure how the thyroid surgery would cause salivary gland pain? It could just be a freak coincidence where she is having an inflammation in a salivary gland - it happens sometimes - and hers is coinciding with her thyroidectomy. Either way she would benefit from the salivary gland relief drill:
- drink LOTS of water, take small sips while eating
- swish several times a day with warm water + baking soda mix
- use Biotene (dry mouth) mouthwash and toothpaste - regular toothpaste will aggravate it
- warm compresses can help
- massage the gland with an up and forward motion to coax saliva out of the ducts
- take Mucinex - it helps thin the saliva so it can get out of the ducts easier
Those things really helped me, you just gotta do the drill every day several times a day. Have faith! Eventually they do normalize again!
Good luck!
Showing posts with label salivary gland pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salivary gland pain. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Salivary Parotid Gland Pain Update and Work (Ugh)
Work this week has just been exhausting if you know what I mean. Yesterday was particularly annoying, just tons of little twisty things trying to screw up my chi!! Including having to argue with someone at the very end of the day about whether to say "probably" or "perhaps" in a paper I was working on. OMG RU FING KIDDING ME??? The project I was working on got held up. I can feel my soul leaking out when stuff like this happens. It makes my head want to explode. I was so irritated about it that it woke me up in the middle of the night! My irritation! It woke me in the night!! GAH.
+++++
I need to get off the couch and go run or whatever I end up doing today (is it raining again?)... but I'm waiting on the Oprah Ekhart Tolle show to download to my iTunes.
+++++
I think I forgot to update about my salivary gland ages ago. I went to an ENT finally who poked around and told me she didn't think I have a stone. I'm not so sure she's right cause I can kinda feel something in there, not sure if it's a stone or what? But it still hurts on the left side. She did scare the shit outta me by telling me if stones develop deep in the gland they will have to remove the whole thing and that is a major surgery and I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE SURGERY TO REMOVE ANY MORE GLANDS THANKYOUVERYMUCH. So. Still freaking out a little bit about that one. Will keep you posted as I will have to go back for MRI's and stuff if it's not gone by June.
+++++
Ooh, my file is done. Must motivate. I will have more to say about toxins soon, so stay tuned!
+++++
I need to get off the couch and go run or whatever I end up doing today (is it raining again?)... but I'm waiting on the Oprah Ekhart Tolle show to download to my iTunes.
+++++
I think I forgot to update about my salivary gland ages ago. I went to an ENT finally who poked around and told me she didn't think I have a stone. I'm not so sure she's right cause I can kinda feel something in there, not sure if it's a stone or what? But it still hurts on the left side. She did scare the shit outta me by telling me if stones develop deep in the gland they will have to remove the whole thing and that is a major surgery and I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE SURGERY TO REMOVE ANY MORE GLANDS THANKYOUVERYMUCH. So. Still freaking out a little bit about that one. Will keep you posted as I will have to go back for MRI's and stuff if it's not gone by June.
+++++
Ooh, my file is done. Must motivate. I will have more to say about toxins soon, so stay tuned!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Thyrogen Injection - Part 1 (and more Salivary Gland Pain)
I got my first thyrogen injection this morning. I got my blood pressure taken and then the nurse said, ok, turn around and lower your pants! That's the first time I can remember getting a shot in the rear. Today she did the right cheek and tomorrow will be the left (what?!). Good times. It didn't hurt too bad, although my heart was racing. The nurse told me, "You're about to feel a pinch, don't jump," but of course I did when she jabbed me. It stung a little and feels a little achey in my glute now. Not pain, not soreness... like a headache. In my ass. (What?!) She said I could still exercise, so I'm planning to do my cardio tomorrow as usual. Actually I have some cardio to do today too, if I still feel normal after work. I didn't get to it this morning after my workout because I was running late. I feel pretty normal now, no side effects to speak of yet. This is much better than stopping my medicine! Tomorrow I get another shot and then get my blood drawn; Wednesday I get the RAI and get my blood drawn; Friday I get my blood drawn and then have my scan.
Meanwhile, my left parotid gland is getting worse and worse. It's sore all the time now, even though it's not swelling as much when I eat. The inside of my cheek is all torn up, I assume from the swelling and my back molars, and it's super painful. I'm biting the bullet and making an appointment with an ENT. :(
Meanwhile, my left parotid gland is getting worse and worse. It's sore all the time now, even though it's not swelling as much when I eat. The inside of my cheek is all torn up, I assume from the swelling and my back molars, and it's super painful. I'm biting the bullet and making an appointment with an ENT. :(
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
What's News?
I got a great compliment this morning! I was in the squat rack, finishing up a set with 140#, and the trainer working his client in the rack next to me said, "That is some GOOD squatting! You squat better than 90% of the guys in here!" I was pretty flattered.
+++++++++
I skipped my planned cardio yesterday, mainly because my bed just felt so good and warm and it was freezing rain outside. I also skipped my HIIT this morning because I ran out of time. When my alarm went off at 5 I realized I did not wake up in the night to pee and so had not taken my thyroid pill. I count on waking up (naturally) during the night to go to the bathroom so I can take my thyroid pill, which has to be on an empty stomach at least an hour before eating. So far, this has happened three times now since I've been back in DC - where I've slept soundly through the entire night and not taken my pill. It didn't happen once the whole time I was in Hawaii.
When it happens, I have to take it in the morning and delay the gym, since I don't work out on an empty stomach. I guess I could have gotten up anyway and gotten other things ready while I was waiting on the hour to pass, but it's much easier to reset the alarm for 6 and snooze a bit longer. I'll make up the HIIT on my next leg day, and yesterday's cardio on Friday. No biggie.
+++++++++++
The dentist was fine yesterday, except... how do I always manage to forget about how insanely AWFUL that water-pick thingie is???? It's AWFUL!! I was getting water sprayed all. over. my. face. Seriously I had water running down the side of my neck?! WTF is that??
He referred me to an oral surgeon to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled that is growing in a little bit on the top. Ugh. Do I really have to do this? Sometimes I think they are just scamming us all on the wisdom tooth thing to drum up more business! The thing is not causing any problems, but he says it probably will eventually and it will be harder to take care of as I get older.
He also suggested I talk to the oral surgeon about my salivary gland problem. He had the gaul to suggest that the pain was caused by me grinding my teeth at night and making the muscles in my jaw sore. This was after I had described how the parotid glands swell up like ping pong balls under my ears whenever I eat.
I didn't punch him in the face.
I calmly told him, no, I don't think that's the problem.
The hygenist told me sometimes people can get stones in blocked salivary glands and the surgeon would have more experience with it than they. She placated me with a goody-bag full of Biotene products and a prescription for at-home fluoride treatments.
+++++++++++++
Today I am going to the optometrist. Tomorrow I have to have blood drawn for my usual thyroid testing and next Tuesday I go back to the cancer doctor to find out what manner of torture I will have to endure for my follow up scans. If I get a clean scan I will officially be in remission!!
+++++++++
I skipped my planned cardio yesterday, mainly because my bed just felt so good and warm and it was freezing rain outside. I also skipped my HIIT this morning because I ran out of time. When my alarm went off at 5 I realized I did not wake up in the night to pee and so had not taken my thyroid pill. I count on waking up (naturally) during the night to go to the bathroom so I can take my thyroid pill, which has to be on an empty stomach at least an hour before eating. So far, this has happened three times now since I've been back in DC - where I've slept soundly through the entire night and not taken my pill. It didn't happen once the whole time I was in Hawaii.
When it happens, I have to take it in the morning and delay the gym, since I don't work out on an empty stomach. I guess I could have gotten up anyway and gotten other things ready while I was waiting on the hour to pass, but it's much easier to reset the alarm for 6 and snooze a bit longer. I'll make up the HIIT on my next leg day, and yesterday's cardio on Friday. No biggie.
+++++++++++
The dentist was fine yesterday, except... how do I always manage to forget about how insanely AWFUL that water-pick thingie is???? It's AWFUL!! I was getting water sprayed all. over. my. face. Seriously I had water running down the side of my neck?! WTF is that??
He referred me to an oral surgeon to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled that is growing in a little bit on the top. Ugh. Do I really have to do this? Sometimes I think they are just scamming us all on the wisdom tooth thing to drum up more business! The thing is not causing any problems, but he says it probably will eventually and it will be harder to take care of as I get older.
He also suggested I talk to the oral surgeon about my salivary gland problem. He had the gaul to suggest that the pain was caused by me grinding my teeth at night and making the muscles in my jaw sore. This was after I had described how the parotid glands swell up like ping pong balls under my ears whenever I eat.
I didn't punch him in the face.
I calmly told him, no, I don't think that's the problem.
The hygenist told me sometimes people can get stones in blocked salivary glands and the surgeon would have more experience with it than they. She placated me with a goody-bag full of Biotene products and a prescription for at-home fluoride treatments.
+++++++++++++
Today I am going to the optometrist. Tomorrow I have to have blood drawn for my usual thyroid testing and next Tuesday I go back to the cancer doctor to find out what manner of torture I will have to endure for my follow up scans. If I get a clean scan I will officially be in remission!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Post RAI Salivary Gland Pain
I have a dentist appointment this afternoon and I’m actually looking forward to it. I’m going to ask about my salivary gland pain, which I started having suddenly right around the time I got to Hawaii. This is a somewhat common problem in people who have been treated with radioactive iodine (RAI) because the RAI concentrates in the thyroid tissue and in the salivary glands. I have scarring in my salivary glands and my tear ducts, both of which were basically fried by radioactive saliva/tears during my treatment. Now whenever I eat or salivate, the saliva can’t get out of my glands and they get really swollen and painful. It’s mostly in the parotid glands, which are right under the ear on the sides of the jaw.
I never even knew we had salivary glands there until my RAI. They tell you to suck on sour candy while in treatment, so that radioactive saliva doesn’t just sit there festering in your glands, it moves and filters (that’s the idea anyway). Eating sour candy at 12, 2 and 4 in the morning was a bitch let me tell you.
I didn’t have pain while I was in the hospital, but shortly after getting home for my isolation, I lost my sense of taste and developed a very dry mouth and a little soreness. That went on for about 3 weeks, I guess and then cleared up. Almost a whole year went by without incident – my mouth was a little drier than before, but no pain or anything. Then I took a decongestant one day when I was having really bad allergies. Decongestants dry up all the fluids in your head, including in your salivary glands. Well, that triggered something because they started bothering me for about a week after that.
It cleared up and then a few weeks later, bam! All of a sudden my salivary glands started getting really swollen and painful every time I eat. It’s not as bad now as it was at first, but it’s STILL going on now about 10 weeks later. When I eat, they swell up like I have the mumps – like hard ping pong balls on either side of my face by my ears. The only thing you can do is just massage them and eventually they go down. It’s kinda gross because sometimes I get a squirt of the nasty backed up saliva, which tastes really salty/sour. Anyway, I’m going to ask the dentist about it and if there is anything I can do besides using my dry mouth stuff (Biotene) and massage. I know from my yahoo thyroid cancer group that some people do a course of steroids or get surgery to reopen the ducts… not sounding like fun. I just hope this is not something I have to live with forever, constantly! Dear lord, I hope I don't have to be retreated.....
Update: As of December 2011, I am officially cancer free! And my parotid glands no longer bother me at all. My friend who had thyca after me did NOT suck sour candies during her RAI and she did NOT have any issues with her salivary glands. If I had to do it over, I would do the same. But if you're reading this because your salivary glands are bothering you post RAI, take heart. The problem is temporary and will eventually go away. The things that helped me the most were Mucinex (not the one with sudafed in it) and massaging the glands when they bothered me. And the dentists have no clue about this problem! I've seen several and they all gave me blank stares when I asked about it.
I never even knew we had salivary glands there until my RAI. They tell you to suck on sour candy while in treatment, so that radioactive saliva doesn’t just sit there festering in your glands, it moves and filters (that’s the idea anyway). Eating sour candy at 12, 2 and 4 in the morning was a bitch let me tell you. I didn’t have pain while I was in the hospital, but shortly after getting home for my isolation, I lost my sense of taste and developed a very dry mouth and a little soreness. That went on for about 3 weeks, I guess and then cleared up. Almost a whole year went by without incident – my mouth was a little drier than before, but no pain or anything. Then I took a decongestant one day when I was having really bad allergies. Decongestants dry up all the fluids in your head, including in your salivary glands. Well, that triggered something because they started bothering me for about a week after that.
It cleared up and then a few weeks later, bam! All of a sudden my salivary glands started getting really swollen and painful every time I eat. It’s not as bad now as it was at first, but it’s STILL going on now about 10 weeks later. When I eat, they swell up like I have the mumps – like hard ping pong balls on either side of my face by my ears. The only thing you can do is just massage them and eventually they go down. It’s kinda gross because sometimes I get a squirt of the nasty backed up saliva, which tastes really salty/sour. Anyway, I’m going to ask the dentist about it and if there is anything I can do besides using my dry mouth stuff (Biotene) and massage. I know from my yahoo thyroid cancer group that some people do a course of steroids or get surgery to reopen the ducts… not sounding like fun. I just hope this is not something I have to live with forever, constantly! Dear lord, I hope I don't have to be retreated.....
Update: As of December 2011, I am officially cancer free! And my parotid glands no longer bother me at all. My friend who had thyca after me did NOT suck sour candies during her RAI and she did NOT have any issues with her salivary glands. If I had to do it over, I would do the same. But if you're reading this because your salivary glands are bothering you post RAI, take heart. The problem is temporary and will eventually go away. The things that helped me the most were Mucinex (not the one with sudafed in it) and massaging the glands when they bothered me. And the dentists have no clue about this problem! I've seen several and they all gave me blank stares when I asked about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)