Saliva FYI

tommyodavey
tommyodavey Member Posts: 728 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Saw my specialist this previous Tuesday for my yearly checkup.  I was expecting a PET scan but he said the insurance company would never pay for it so tough luck for me.

What he did mention was the procedure he did on my mouth when I had my neck dissection prior to radiation.  Back in 2012 he removed my right parotid salivary gland because the radiation would kill it anyway.  (tumor on right side) Then he moved a different gland from my left side to my chin and told the radiation crew to not hit that spot.  By doing that, I didn't lose all my saliva.  My other glands work harder but I don't notice much of a difference.

The reason for this post was he told me that back then it was rarely done.  Our hospital here in Las Vegas has had the most success in the entire country.  He sent his findings to John Hopkins and now more doctors are doing the procedure.  So thank you to my very skilled surgeon for paving the way for us patients to keep our saliva after rads.

If you are now beginning your journey, mention this procedure to see if it is one you qualify for.  If your doctor doesn't offer it, it may be beneficial to get another opinion.

Thought you all might like to know this little tidbit of info.

Comments

  • armana
    armana Member Posts: 97 Member
    #2
    Great Information

    Thank you for the post. 5 years too late for me but great information for the new comers. 

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member
    #3
    Amazing Never Heard of It

    Till now. Your surgeon was ahead of his time lucky for you. You would think they would make this a standard procedure for people going through this treatment if there is a chance saliva would be affected. As armana said-too late for me but a blessing for new folks if they know about this. But how would they know when it is only mentioned on forums like this once in a while. I would think there is a way for docs to share this info.

  • Drivingdaisy
    Drivingdaisy Member Posts: 263
    #4
    wbcgaruss said:

    Amazing Never Heard of It

    Till now. Your surgeon was ahead of his time lucky for you. You would think they would make this a standard procedure for people going through this treatment if there is a chance saliva would be affected. As armana said-too late for me but a blessing for new folks if they know about this. But how would they know when it is only mentioned on forums like this once in a while. I would think there is a way for docs to share this info.

    Amazing Never heard of that.

    so many Drs are so set in their ways of doing things they don’t know, read or hear about.  If it wasn’t for My ENTs knowledge of HPV +16 ( was on research team yrs ago) my other 2 would have probably never checked.  But he did.  He learned something new & embraced it for the benefit of his patients.  Most just stick to conventional methods they learned yrs ago in Med School, why the need to go to a bigger team approach center.  Thinking together often looking “ outside the box” for answers!  Wish they would have moved or at least stayed away from My Saliva Glands.  Now dead, thank you so much.

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