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I am a healthy 25 yr. old female. In December of 1999 (...

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I am a healthy 25 yr. old female. In December of 1999 (at the age of 19) while eating Taco Bell I experinced a sudden blockage of saliva on my left side, right under my jaw line. Not knowing what it was, I just kinda left it alone and tried not to eat any that made me salivate too much. Apparently, the blocked salivary gland got grossly infected and so swollen it looked like I had a grapefruit coming out of my neck. I went to see an ENT who immediatly put me on a course of antibiotics. The infection and swelling went away after about a week of taking the medication, but the duct was still blocked. All the while, I had tiny stones coming out one by one (about 2 a week) for a full year! My Dr. sent me for X-ray's and decided that the stone was too big to come out on it's own and he would have to operate. I went in for the operation, which went very well and when I woke up he showed me the 2 stones that he had removed and said they were the biggest stones he had ever seen come out of someone's mouth. I was assured that there was a 98% probability this would never happen again. 2 years later I am going in for my 2nd surgery to remove another stone and possibly the whole gland. If anyone has ever had this happen to where they had to remove your gland please contact me because I'm a little unsure about life with only one salivary gland.

[i:2a7a7a648c]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:2a7a7a648c]

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I just had my gland removed 7/13/06, the doctor also said the stone was huge, I had it done and went home the next day they removed the drain and there was a little swelling, the following day my neck swelled up 3 times its normal size, and was red and warm to touch. I called my doctors office and the on-call doctor assured me that this was normal, so I didn't think nothing of it. then 2 days later I was awaken at 2:30 in the morning with my neck all wet, I thought to myself I must be sweating so I got up to clean my neck, I noticed that infection was draining out of the place the tube was in, So a trip back to the hospital for a diagnosis of infection and cellulitis of the neck, I was given antibiotics thru an IV, my doctor was still out of town and the ER doctor called the doctor on call and they told me to go to his office, after 6 hours of draining the wound was cleaned and not draining when I went to the doctor. He put me on a different course of antibiotics after 1 more day some swelling went down and lastnight I was awaken again where drainage covered my entire shirt and blankets but this time it was more blood tinged fluid. I am suppose to get the sutures removed tomorrow and I am afraid that when they do that I will seap through the whole 2 inch incision. I had no idea this would become so complicated, the doctor assured me that this was procedure that would quickly heal, here it has been a week and I feel worse than when I went in.I can't open my mout past a finger width so eating is everything through a straw, I can finally swallow after 6 days it feels like you have a severe case of strep throat and every swallow feels like glass. don't worry about not being able to produce enough saliva, believe me you make enough that hurts when you swallow.I am not trying to scare you but this is the experience I am still going through,If you have the surgery I wish you all the luck.

    [i:8feec87ddf]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:8feec87ddf]

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    How are you feeling now? I am scheduled to have my gland removed in 1 week, on 7/28. Thanks for the heads up on what can go wrong since my doctor didn't make the complications very clear.

    [i:e79a0ab1da]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:e79a0ab1da]

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    My doctor is recommending that i have my submandibular gland remvoe because of my chronic problem with stones. I am aware that there will be scarring but i fear having a disfiguring bobble head look that i sometimes see on people who have had neck surgery. can someone who has had glands removed please tell me if there is any disfiguration like this?
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