Lumpless

Long time no post... lets get to it. As far as I can tell, this post is unrelated to my thyroiditis.

I can see it now in the photographs, so obvious now that I look. One side of my face has always been puffier, and, my smile was less energetic on that side.

Undoubtedly this is related to the parotid (salivary gland) tumor I just got sliced out on that side. Nothing cancerous; Just a benign pleomorphic adenoma. Already I have much less "TMJ pain" on that side.

You see, my main complaint of pain was of course on that side, in that area. The tumor itself did not hurt. And it was a rare situation. I have to be in the middle of chewing AND faced with amusement. If I am amused- before I even smile much at all- muscles around my jaw hing and/or the back of my cheeks tighten. Combined with whatever position my jaw was in, this caused a LOT of pain. But it was a rare situation, despite the fact that doctors seemed to assume that this meant I had pain when chewing at any old time. The key, however, was the chewing AND the muscle tightening.

Of course the involved muscles were the ones going around where my lump was.

At any rate, my lump was removed over two weeks ago. It was only at the base of the parotid gland, so I only lost a small bit of that. The swelling from the surgery has gone down, but that cheek still looks a little puffier than the other, as it was before the surgery. I'm hoping that the inflammation will subside, now that the aggravating factor is removed.

I am lucky that this was dealt with- I'd previously mentioned the lump to a doctor, and to a dentist, to no end. I had this lump for at least 6 years.