ENT Land

Phew! Referral process went smoothly, if slowly. I can't decide if it is better to look up a doctor or not. This time I did. He looked decent and he was located in my favorite medical center, so win-win. I guess it is late June by now.

The doctor was very professional, however he spent most of the time complaining that he could not see what the radiologist saw. He kept zooming in and out and muttering. I didn't quite know what to say. He decided to do a needle biopsy, but felt confident it was a cyst. Hmmm. Something I didn't consider before. The biopsy wasn't too painful and for the first time in 5 months there was no bump.

At this point he said he felt like the fluid would collect again, but there wasn't anything unusual looking in the syringe. Mostly clear liquid. Strangely, after the needle biopsy the lump stayed flat for 48 hours. But, alas... it came back and was pretty much the same as before.

I returned to the doctor for a follow up a week later. He told me that the report came back clear (not a surprise) and basically there wasn't much he could do for me. He suggested a few things like the compression bandage you wear after a face lift, but then almost immediately said... but I doubt that would work. A lot of head scratching went on, then he finally suggested I see another ENT doctor who does a fairly new procedure that uses a tiny wire to go in via the mouth to try to stretch the duct tube open. If that doesn't work, he said... you can come back here and I can do a facelift like surgery where I pull a muscle over the gland to basically keep it flat. Yikes! I think I'll take my chances with the next ENT. This doctor didn't seem very jazzed to find a solution. And the beat goes on....