Paratoid Gland Tumor

This blog is dedicated entirely to Parotid Gland Tumor and Surgery. If you have a parotid gland tumor and are faced with surgery, this site will answer many of your questions and concerns. Be sure to explore the links at the left. There are 100's of other people experiencing what you are, share messages with them at the forum page.

Parotid gland tumor are mostly benign. From the information I've been able to find, it seems only 20% are malignant. Recurrence of a benign tumor after excision occurs in only 10% of the patients. Hopefully, this will help put your mind at ease. However, the surgical procedure to remove the tumor, a parotidectomy, is difficult and risky due to the proximity of the gland and the facial nerves that control your face movement. I would encourage you to seek the most experienced surgeon you can find to perform this procedure.

On the left side of the page you will find links to a Discussion Page (Forum) with over 6,000 posts from people with parotid gland conditions, as well as information on the two parotidectomies I experienced for the removal of benign pleomorphic adenoma tumors of my right parotid gland. I've included my own view of the medical procedures, description of postoperative complications, surgical and pathological reports I obtained from the hospital, information on radiation treatments, and a link page to other information I've found useful on the Web.

I should note there are other conditions which have similar symptoms as a parotid tumor (lump in the jaw/neck/ear area). So far readers of the forum have informed us of Sebaceous Cysts, Cat Scratch Fever, and plugged parotid ducts. Check out the links page for more information on these conditions. Particularly Cat Scratch Fever if you have been scratched in the face by a kitten in the last two months.

View Post-Op Poll

I am running a "Post-Op Survey" which has been completed by over 50 people who have had Parotid Gland Surgery. It asks questions about their surgery experience.

Interactive Discussion Page

At the top left of each page you will find a link to an Interactive Discussion Page, better known as a bulletin board or forum. The board already contains over 10,000 posts from individuals who have undergone the parotidectomy procedure. Because this is a relatively rare condition and procedure, comfort is sometimes found in being able to talk to others who are experiencing what you are. Some of the individuals had procedures that went extremely well, others had numerous complications. Consider the experience and advice of these individuals, post questions of your own, let us know what's on your mind, and come back after your procedure and let us know how you are doing.

Instructions

While there have been over 100,000 messages, only 6,000 to 10,000 will remain active. The others are archived. The board is meant to be a continuous conversation. . However, when you first arrive you may see very few. This is because the board only displays messages from the last two weeks by default. You may change this to 4 weeks or 2 months. Select "Set Preferences" from the menu bar at the top of the discussion page. I would suggest changing the setting to 12 weeks. Use this same menu bar to learn more about the discussion page.

The board will be more or less active depending on the time of year, holidays, and most importantly, how the search engines are listing it. Unlike other boards, it is unlikely that this site will grow by word of mouth.