Thyroid cancer is another gift that keeps on giving...

So...last Friday I had a sharp pain in my right cheek that felt like a nerve flare up. I had a sore cheek all weekend but when I ate lunch on Monday, it swelled up like a balloon. I went right to my PCP's office and she said it was a parotid duct stone...a stone that develops in the salivary gland and blocks the opening. Text book case. So I go onto my handy little thyroid message board and see that a slew of people have had the indentical problem, many times it is several months afte the radioactive iodone therapy. I now have a salty taste, just like the others reported. Of course the doctors say it is not related, but we know better!
Supposedly it is common to have this as a side effect due to scarring of the glands (it absorbs the radioactive iodine). And lucky me, it can recur.

I am still not regulated on my thyroid replacement meds, he just upped me 3 levels on Monday. I am hopeful that my eyes will not be scratchy or puffy and that my stomach will calm down.



Oh ladies, why oh why....it's always something...



Anyway, I do hope you are all well!

Lori

Yeah, right? Cancer X2 for me...is this X3 for you now? What are the odds of all this crap...

For the stone, they gave me an antibiotic to prevent infection. If it does not resolve I will have to see an ENT for eval on size, location, etc. They sometimes can probe it out, and I guess there are other more invasive things they can do too. It is definitely better than it was, but it seems to get better one day and flare up again the next. I have chatted with a lot of people with identical symptoms several months later, they even gae a name for it, radiation sialianitis. I must say, I am sick of researching medical conditions on the internet!

Ah, this too shall pass....one day at a time. And for Dame Lori...next, I'd like a nice glass of wine. :)

X4...you had another skin lesion, right? Well one time is too much, so 4, well if I can be Dame, you can be Queen :)

I am working this evening while watching tv, the common thing for me this time of year.

I am not feeling a cleverness right now, so how about just "L'chaim!" In yiddish, that means "To Life!"

Lori

Jo-Ann, that is sweet, thanks. Yes I am too young for this, but none of us deserves it, regardless of age. I turned 40 in December and was eager to get into my 40's. Breast cancer at 30, thyroid cancer at 39, it was a tough decade! My cheek/ gland is doing better, still getting some swelling but not as bad. My doc had told me to call for an ENT referral if not resolved in 3 days, but I am not taking her advice...she thought it was a duct stone and I am pretty sure it is a radiation thing that just has to run its course.

Yes, I knew the 2X breast cancers for you but had forgotten about the skin lesion that was #3. I tell ya, a girl loses count!
I will toast back to you the next time I have a glass, which should be any day.

Hugs,
Lori

Thanks Frayda! My PCP said the same thing with the sour candy, I've been sucking Jolly Ranchers and other candy all week. The thing is that it is a possibility that it is scar tissue from the radioactive iodine therapy that I had last summer. It is getting better so I am going to hold off on seeing a doc just yet, but I appreciate the feedback on the ENT vs. oral surgeons.
Hope you're well!
Lori