I had kinda pushed the actually surgery to the back of my mind, but the week before was the absolute worst. I had more or less convinced myself I would come away with facial weakness and I would lose my smile. But, my story is a positive one and [spoiler alert] my surgery went as well as it could have. Before that though, I was a complete wreck (my poor boyfriend). This was also my first surgery so I was fearing the unknown and the thought of going under anaesthesia had me freaked out.
On the day of surgery I arrived at 7.30 in the morning and was seen more or less straight away by the nurse. She ran through some stuff from my pre op assessment and got my hospital tag on me. I told her I was a little nervous so she told me she would get me a pre-med pill from the anaesthetist to help calm me.
Next the aneathetist came in to ask me some routine questions and ran over the risks. He left without leaving me the pre-med and I got a little freaked that I wasn't going to have anything to calm me.
A junior doctor then came to see me, she made sure that I was aware of the risks and ran over them again. It was then that I got a little over whelmed and had a little cry.
The surgeon then came to see me and told me again what she was going to do and asked did I have any questions.
I got changed into my gown and stockings (looking like a real babe) and it was time to get wheeled to theatre. Waved my mum good bye and on came the tears again.
In theatre (my fave bit is coming up) a nurse put my IV in and a junior aneathetist asked how I was feeling. I told him I was a little nervous so he asked would I like something to help me feel better. YES PLEASE. He told me it would feel like a few glasses of wine. Best wine I've ever had. It wasn't long after he gave me this that I was giggling and I couldn't have worried if I tried. I was fully aware what was about to happen but I was so so relaxed and calm (Miracle drug!)
They then wheeled me to another room in the theatre, placed a gas mask over me and asked me to take 6 deep breaths. This is the last thing I remember, that and a pair of blue eyes starring down at me.
I was in theatre for around half 8 and woke up at about 1. When I came round I felt very very nauseous and told the nurse, so she worked quickly to get me some anti sickness meds through my IV and turned me on my side incase I was sick. Once I could focus on anything other than the sickness I asked anyone that come near me could I smile, the nurses all told me yes but I was scared they were lying. I had a good feel around my mouth and it felt normal. I've never been so relieved. I felt my eyebrow and blinked and I couldn't believe I was out the other side with a smile.
As for pain, I couldn't feel any. I'm sure I had some morphine in my system and IV paracetamol was being used too. I was shocked at not being in any pain. The surgeon nipped in quickly to check my nerves; asked me to smile and blink and she was happy so left me to recover. My throat was really dry and quite raw from the breathing apparatus, so i was dying for some water, but I had to wait to go back to the ward. It's the most thirsty ive ever felt.
I was in recovery awake for another hour while the nausea passed before going back to the ward. I had some water and shortly after, tea and toast. Best tea and toast ever! It was quite hard to chew, more like small little nibbles.
I was feeling pretty good, lay listening to music before the surgeon came to see me. She told me I was very very lucky, as the tumour was attached right to one of the nerves so they had to leave some of the healthy tissue they would normally remove in order to leave it intact... And therefore my smile intact. This just means there is a higher chance of regrowth down the line but that risk would be there anyway. Besides that, all went well. She changed my bandages, checked my scar and told me to come back in a week to get my stitches out. (For the record, my surgeon is a complete hero.)
I was able to go home at 6. Which is completely mad. Just a few hours earlier I was only in recovery! If I'm honest, I think I got sent home too early, it was a 3-4 hour surgery and while i felt fine going home I do think it was a bit risky being sent home so soon after major surgery. But hey, I was happy to be going home! I got some IV paracetamol before leaving but the pain was still on the low end of the scale. I was a bit woosey and wobbly from the anaesthetic, but I went to bed around 10 and didn't have as much trouble sleeping as I thought. Couldn't believe it was all over in a day. All that worrying and it was done.
Out the other end. Smile intact.
Wednesday 22 October 2014
Sunday 19 October 2014
Back to the start: Diagnosis
Chances are if you have found this blog it is because you, or someone you know, is about to go through a perotidectomy and you want to find out some more info through other people's experiences. I know thats what I did, and I also know that there are a lot of horror stories on the Internet and therefore I wanted to give my experience, a more positive experience than a lot (most) I've read.
First, I'll take you back to when/how I got diagnosed.
I can't remember exactly the first time I discovered a bean sized lump along my jaw line (almost beside my ear) but I decided to get it investigated by my GP around 5 years ago. A locum (stand in doctor) seen me, felt it and told me to ignore it, it was nothing to worry about. So that's what I did. In hindsight, and from what other practitioners have now told me, you should never ignore a lump... Get it investigated and don't allow doctors to play guessing games. It's worth mentioning, my lump was moveable and hard to the touch with no pain associated with it.
Skip forward to a year and a half ago (March 2013), it had gotten a little bigger and I was constantly getting colds and bugs so thought it was worth another mention to my regular GP (I made sure to get him this time). As it turns out, the colds and bugs where unrelated but after a feel of the lump he referred me to an ultrasound.
I waited a few months for my appointment, a doc took the ultrasound because of where the lump was located. He put some gel on my jaw and neck and scanned the area for a few minutes. He told me he wasn't sure what it was, but because of its size they would rescan in a few months and see if it had grown any. My lump was measured at 2.5 cm.
3 months later, another scan and he decides to do a fine needle biopsy to better determine what it is. It has grown a little more so this was cause for concern. The FNB wasn't the worst, it was a little bit sore and unpleasant but not unbearable. It took around 5 minutes, poking the area with a needle to get some cells. My boyfriend was there to hold my hand because I'm a big baby, but you can go on about your daily business once it's over.
Next stage was getting the results. Finding out what you are dealing with is scary and a bit daunting, luckily in my case I found out at my next appointment that it was a pleomorphic adenoma, a benign tumour on the parotid gland. This type of tumour continues to grow and has a risk of turning malignant down the line, so I was told it had to go (although the surgery is elective but it is advised to get it removed. As I said, it continues to grow and this can cause even more problems and make it harder down the line.)
Of course though, removal wasn't necessarily going to be as straight forward as I thought. I was told it would be major surgery, and there are some pretty scary risks as the gland the tumour was on has lots of important facial nerves through it, meaning the possibility of snipping or damaging a nerve was there... Which would cause facial weakness/ facial palsy. This was my main worry... And boy did I worry.
After the surgeon ran me through the procedure, she explained I would be cut from the front of my ear, down under my ear and down my neck. Not quite the size I was expecting for such a little lump, but they do this so they can work and protect the nerve. She also explained that they use nerve sensors which alert them during surgery if they go too close to a nerve. I was told I would need at least 3 weeks off work for recovery
The next step after that was my pre-op assessment a few months later, where they take an ECG, blood tests etc and do a general health check.
The only thing left at that stage was to wait for the actual surgery. Sorry this was a bit long winded, but just for anyone interested in my journey leading up to the surgery. In my. Next post I will run through what to expect on the day of surgery.
In total it took a year and a half from that second GP visit to get a confirmed diagnosis, for me.
First, I'll take you back to when/how I got diagnosed.
I can't remember exactly the first time I discovered a bean sized lump along my jaw line (almost beside my ear) but I decided to get it investigated by my GP around 5 years ago. A locum (stand in doctor) seen me, felt it and told me to ignore it, it was nothing to worry about. So that's what I did. In hindsight, and from what other practitioners have now told me, you should never ignore a lump... Get it investigated and don't allow doctors to play guessing games. It's worth mentioning, my lump was moveable and hard to the touch with no pain associated with it.
Skip forward to a year and a half ago (March 2013), it had gotten a little bigger and I was constantly getting colds and bugs so thought it was worth another mention to my regular GP (I made sure to get him this time). As it turns out, the colds and bugs where unrelated but after a feel of the lump he referred me to an ultrasound.
I waited a few months for my appointment, a doc took the ultrasound because of where the lump was located. He put some gel on my jaw and neck and scanned the area for a few minutes. He told me he wasn't sure what it was, but because of its size they would rescan in a few months and see if it had grown any. My lump was measured at 2.5 cm.
3 months later, another scan and he decides to do a fine needle biopsy to better determine what it is. It has grown a little more so this was cause for concern. The FNB wasn't the worst, it was a little bit sore and unpleasant but not unbearable. It took around 5 minutes, poking the area with a needle to get some cells. My boyfriend was there to hold my hand because I'm a big baby, but you can go on about your daily business once it's over.
Next stage was getting the results. Finding out what you are dealing with is scary and a bit daunting, luckily in my case I found out at my next appointment that it was a pleomorphic adenoma, a benign tumour on the parotid gland. This type of tumour continues to grow and has a risk of turning malignant down the line, so I was told it had to go (although the surgery is elective but it is advised to get it removed. As I said, it continues to grow and this can cause even more problems and make it harder down the line.)
Of course though, removal wasn't necessarily going to be as straight forward as I thought. I was told it would be major surgery, and there are some pretty scary risks as the gland the tumour was on has lots of important facial nerves through it, meaning the possibility of snipping or damaging a nerve was there... Which would cause facial weakness/ facial palsy. This was my main worry... And boy did I worry.
After the surgeon ran me through the procedure, she explained I would be cut from the front of my ear, down under my ear and down my neck. Not quite the size I was expecting for such a little lump, but they do this so they can work and protect the nerve. She also explained that they use nerve sensors which alert them during surgery if they go too close to a nerve. I was told I would need at least 3 weeks off work for recovery
The next step after that was my pre-op assessment a few months later, where they take an ECG, blood tests etc and do a general health check.
The only thing left at that stage was to wait for the actual surgery. Sorry this was a bit long winded, but just for anyone interested in my journey leading up to the surgery. In my. Next post I will run through what to expect on the day of surgery.
In total it took a year and a half from that second GP visit to get a confirmed diagnosis, for me.
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