Parotid (salivary) gland stone
Okay, Saturday night – there I was, minding my own business while eating dinner. I was happily munching away, when I start to notice a weird sensation on the right side of my face. Sometimes (and this is kind of weird) I get a tickling deep in my ear when I eat eggplant. I was not eating eggplant so I was baffled by the sensation. No more than one minute later, a huge lump appeared on the part of my right cheek next to my ear. It hurt. It grew and grew. I was getting quite concerned, needless to say, as this was not normal.
I showed it to my husband and he was stunned. By now the “lump” had spread to under my ear and a little under my jaw line. The right side of my face was twice as big as usual and hard as a rock. I quickly got online to see if I could find a prognosis for my freakish lump. Everything pointed to a salivary gland. The recommendation was to drink straight lemon juice and to get the saliva going on the at side. I did this and each time, it made the lump get bigger and harder. I put an ice pack on it and hoped that the mysterious lump would be gone when I woke up in the morning.
Flash forward to 4:30 a.m. I was tossing and turning and couldn’t get comfortable. I tried the right side, but there was pressure. I tried the left side but there was even worse pressure. Crap. What do I do now? I was pretty scared by now of course, and decided to head to the emergency room. My hubby and daughter were still sleeping, and I didn’t want to bother them, so I left three notes strategically placed around the house, and I headed out.
Luckily there weren’t many people in the waiting room and they took me right in. They were quite baffled too (and probably a little scared – I resembled Quasimodo – except my hump was on my face). They examined me and determined that it was a stone in my Parotid (salivary) gland, and it was infected and obstructed. They said this is usually caused by dieting and sometimes dehydration. I guess I was dehydrated. They started an IV and pumped 2 liters of fluid in me as well as NSAIDS and antibiotics. I was hurting quite a bit at this point but didn’t want to take anything for the pain, as that would require a ride home and I didn’t want to bother hubby.
They made me eat a lemon (which tasted pretty darned good at this point) but it made my face swell even more. My husband called a little while later and was disturbed that I didn’t wake him up. Oooopsie! I told him it is boring here and he does not need to come in.
I was released 5 hours later with instructions to take oral antibiotics for 10 days and to keep warm compresses on it. Sunday was a lazy day, I just relaxed. My daughter’s friend stopped by with her mom (I had never met them before – my daughter was going to their house). I introduced myself to the mom, and then my stomach dropped when I realized what a mess I must look. I had not showered, I had no makeup on and my face was gigantic. I quickly pointed out that I was sick and don’t normally look like this. Oh boy. Yesterday (Monday) I slept most of the day – I guess the infection was kicking my backside. I was hurting so bad…it was brutal.
Today I woke up and noticed a major improvement. The pain had subsided quite a bit, as had my lump. I no longer looked like a member of the freak show! Now you can see why I didn’t do my mingle this week – it really was not pretty, and I could not subject you, my readers, to the ugliness.
This has been one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me. I have no idea how or why it happened, but I am hoping it will go away and never come back. I have found myself humming “My Humps” since this began. “My lump, my lump, my lovely facial lump”. Ick.
Remember to drink lots of water!
Have you ever had a Parotid gland stone?
