Lisa's Story - Polymorphous Low Grade Adencarcinoma

[lisaj]

I was first diagnosed in December of 2002 with PLGA in the duct of my salivary gland. I had surgery in January 03. The Dr. removed a "scoop" of tissue from the top of my mouth. I then had to wear an obturator until the tissue filled in. No other treatment at that time.

My 2nd recurrence happened in Feb 05. More surgery in March (very brutal recovery) . This surgery resulted in the partial removal of my hard palate. The obturator now fills in the defect left from this surgery. The margins were not clear and the dr. had to do more surgery 2 months later. I won't go into details of how this how changed my life now.

3rd recurrence (by now my Dr. has never had anyone with a 3rd recurrence) was diagnosed in January of 09 and had more surgery 1 month later. This time the dr. removed my upper left jaw, and all tissue up to my eye from the left side of my face. New obturator with 6 teeth this time.

I am just hoping now that the old cliche "3 times is a charm" will hold true. However, as of this writing, I have an appt. with the dr. next week because something has "been bothering" me. Nothing specific,maybe me just being paranoid!

I am 49 years old, and was 41 at first diagnosis. I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience.