This is a personal blog that I thought would be important to share about not ignoring your health. As dentists and people in healthcare , life is often hectic and we can tend to put ourselves last.
Invest in checkups for yourself and especially if you have a family and young ones that depend on your well being.
The year is 2009, I am in the third year of my dental school program at the University of Western Ontario. I notice a lump on the right side of my jaw in my parotid gland region, and a visit to my family doctor reassured me that it’s likely normal as lymphs can swell and come and go. With my mind at peace , I leave it.
Several months pass, we are now doing hospital rotations during the third year program. One rotation in particular saw a young patient getting a deep resection due to invasive facial cancer , I panic.
I ask the treating doctors what they thought this lump could be and they advised an MRI and an aspirational biopsy, it comes back inconclusive but I am told that there is a growth in my right side parotid gland region and it should be removed . Although most tend to be benign , they can be slow growing and compressive with time.
In the middle of exams during third year and traveling to the hospital for further testing I was scheduled for surgery during the summer between third and fourth year dental school.
Following up with my doctor , I am told the parotid gland resection of growth was successful but the bad news comes. It was cancer.
I am in shock, here I am at 27 years of age, healthy , non smoker, non drinker. Acinic cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor representing 2% of all salivary tumors. Prognosis is good for acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland, with five-year survival rates approaching 90%, and 20-year survival exceeding 50%
The cancer had not spread or metastasized. For the next 5 years I would undergo yearly MRI examinations to determine if area is stable.
Side effects of parotid gland resections can include initial compensatory effects such as loss of sensation of ear lobe which is still present , and luckily facial
Nerve branching in parotid was unaffected due the amazing work by Dr Jason Franklin and team now located in Kingston Ontario.
Another side effect of surgery which luckily dissipated with time is Frey syndrome causing sweating while eating and facial flushing in response to eating and salivation. Basically , the surgery puts your nerves out of wack!
The year is 2025, it is 16 years since I am cancer free. Had it not been for dentistry and being able to self diagnose my neck region and being aware of oral pathology , who knows what could have been.
Take care of yourselves and don’t ignore symptoms .
With love
Mark Bishara
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