Hi All,

I had treatment for oral cancer (tongue) in 2004, at the age of 30. All of my scans since then have been perfect and I have only had the usual complaints post radiation to deal with.
I now however, have a lump in a salivary gland under my ear. I first noticed it back in Ocotober '09 and it was not really painful then. My RO and my ENT did not think anything of it. It is now painful to the touch and kind of a dull ache otherwise. I went back to my ENT on Thursday because it is really bugging me and he did not like how painful it was and said "there could be a growth" and ordered an MRI. He discussed doing a biopsy first, but decided he wanted a picture of it before he messed around with it. I asked if it could just be an infection or blockage or some sort of malfunction from the radiation and he said he didn't think so. I was really not expecting that, I kept thinking this is some damage from the radiation. Of course, I have now read that a major cause of Salivary Gland cancer is exposure to radiation treatment. Wouldn't that be great, cure one cancer and cause another! I have not been able to schedule the MRI yet, because I have to wait for approval from insurance before I can even schedule. Very frustrating! I really just want to know what I am dealing with.

Does anyone have any experience with something similar to this?

Thank so much for any information or advice you have.

Samantha