Guest guest Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Hey, I had this, and have been very pleased with the cosmetic results. I no longer look as if I am storing nuts for winter. The downside is that my mouth does get a little dry sometimes; not anything that drinking water doesn't fix, and it's not annoying. JB On Aug 18, 2004, at 7:42 AM, PozHealth wrote: > I just saw consulted a doc for facial wasting and possible new > fill/sculptura treatmensts. In addition to the new fill treatments he > recommended seeing an oncologist for radiation treatments on my > salivary > glands to shrink the " gill look. " Has anybody heard of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma and received radiation therapy to reduce the tumors in my neck. It not only completely reduced my tumors, but also my parotid glands (an added benefit). I imagine that I received more radiation than those who’ve had radiation treatment only for parotid gland reduction. As a result of the treatment, I have rather severe dry mouth that water alone doesn’t help. (People who are HIV- and have oral cancers usually lose all salivary production after high-dose radiation treatment.) However, there is a prescription drug that stimulates salivary gland production for people who have had low-dose radiation treatment. It’s called Evoxac and it works tremendously. The usual dose is 1 capsule every 8 hours (however I take 1 capsule every 6 hours). I’ve had no side effects at all with the drug and I’m very grateful that my radiation oncologist prescribed it for me. I highly recommend Evoxac for those who are bothered by severe dry mouth after radiation treatment. Don -----Original Message----- From: Barrow Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:37 AM To: PozHealth Subject: Parotid radiation Hey, I had this, and have been very pleased with the cosmetic results. I no longer look as if I am storing nuts for winter. The downside is that my mouth does get a little dry sometimes; not anything that drinking water doesn't fix, and it's not annoying. JB On Aug 18, 2004, at 7:42 AM, PozHealth wrote: > I just saw consulted a doc for facial wasting and possible new > fill/sculptura treatmensts. In addition to the new fill treatments he > recommended seeing an oncologist for radiation treatments on my > salivary > glands to shrink the " gill look. " Has anybody heard of this? Welcome to our PozHealth group! If you received this email from someone who forwarded it to you and would like to join this group, send a blank email to PozHealth-subscribe and you will get an email with intructions to follow. You can chose to receive single emails or a daily digest (collection of emails). You can post pictures, images, attach files and search by keyword old postings in the group. For those of you who are members already and want to switch from single emails to digest or viceversa, visit www.yahoogroups.com, click on PozHealth, then on " edit my membership " and go down to your selection. The list administrator does not process any requests, so this is a do-it-yourself easy process ! Thanks for joining. You will learn and share a lot in this group! NOTE: I moderate, approve or disapprove emails before they are posted. Please follow the guidelines shown in the homepage. I will not allow rudeness, sexually explicit material, attacks, and anyone who does not follow the rules. If you are not OK with this, please do not join the group. Forward this email to anyone who may benefit from this information! Thanks! In Health, Vergel (powertx@...) List Founder and Moderator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I know this probably sounds too easy to be true... But I had swelling (both sides) that made me look like a chipmunk and caused pain in my jaw area. It was suggested that I try stimulating salivation with hard candy or something first. I chose Juicy Fruit gum (always made my mouth water - but it is loaded with sugar), and after two weeks of chewing the gum the problem cleared up and hasn't returned. Maybe I had a different condition, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try some sugarless candy or gum while waiting for the treatment, or even in case of dry mouth afterward. BG > I just saw consulted a doc for facial wasting and possible new > fill/sculptura treatmensts. In addition to the new fill treatments he > recommended seeing an oncologist for radiation treatments on my > salivary > glands to shrink the " gill look. " Has anybody heard of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I don't think you had the same thing. JB > I know this probably sounds too easy to be true... But I had swelling > (both > sides) that made me look like a chipmunk and caused pain in my jaw > area. It > was suggested that I try stimulating salivation with hard candy or > something > first. I chose Juicy Fruit gum (always made my mouth water - but it is > loaded with sugar), and after two weeks of chewing the gum the problem > cleared up and hasn't returned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I thought I might add my own story about radiation to the head, since quite a few people have written in about their puffy parotid problem. I had a squamous cell carcinoma in the inner corner of my right eye, with possible metastasis to the neck lymph nodes. I declined surgery as the outcome would probably have been cosmetically terrible and possibly would involve removing my right eye which was total unaffected although the tumor abutted the eye muscle. just a note on the cancer: i have been positive for almost 20 years with no AIDS defining illnesses (although my t-cells have dipped below 200 a few times)and mild lipoatrophy. my doctors (i have about 5 different ones working on me..yay Kaiser) tell me that NASTY skin cancers are showing up more and more in long term HIV survivors. skin cancer does NOT usually grow rapidly and does not typically metastasize quickly if at all. SO, a bit of advice based on my own 2 year long horror story...PLEASE have skin damage and suspicious skin spots looked at and removed/treated before they go berserk and the doctors have to start hacking out large pieces of your flesh, especially your face. back to the radiation...i had my maximum allowable lifetime dose from the neck up focussing on my lymph nodes and orbit tumor but pretty much my whole head got a good dose of lovely radiation. i think the parotid treatment is done over a shorter time and lower dose. anyway, at my dose, this experience was hellish. damaged taste buds (everything tastes like cardboard), dry, dry mouth, blisters in mouth, eye irritation, pain swallowing, constricted throat, bald patches and loss of all facial hair, and here's a funny one....puffy parotids!!!!! go figure? anyway, i finished all that just over two months ago and the tumor is gone and the swollen lymph nodes are gone and am having CT and PET scans to determine what is going on. everybody is thrilled with the results although i have no tear duct left in the right eye and a dime sized depression/crater...both to be reconstructed early next year. the radiation side effects are improving...taste back about 75%, can eat normally again (after loosing about 30 lbs) and hair beginning to sprout back sporadically. I still have puffy parotids though so I guess there must be some sort of paradoxical reaction that will actually give you swollen parotids at high radiation doses rather than shrink them. Sorry if this letter is slightly off point, but it felt good to write it and if one fellow HIV sufferer avoids the time and trauma I have gone through because of "skin cancer gone wild" it is worth the caution. Get your skin checked! dB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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