final update for everyone curious! my biopsy went well, i had a pretty bad reaction to the anesthesia but besides that the surgery was a success. they found another cyst which they were able to remove easily. they also were able to get all 4 wisdom teeth out with no issues and drained the site of the tumor a bit which made my face way less swollen. recovery sucked but im mostly back to normal minus swelling on the side of the biopsy. i had a consultation for my next steps and my tumor is BENIGN! i have an aneurysmal bone cyst, and the other cyst they removed was a benign dentigerous cyst from having impacted wisdom teeth.
i have two options here.
1. do surgery for a full excision of the tumor. this will be more destructive to the bone. they would do one internal and one external incision (i'd need to shave hair which, as a teenager, i don't really care for) and try to scoop the tumor, but because it's so much fluid they can't guarantee they can remove the entire thing, leaving a much higher chance of recurrence. i also run the risk of my coronoid process being removed with the tumor which would be a nightmare. i would also have external scarring.
2. do surgery to place a decompression tube inside the tumor and have it sutured to the inside of my mouth. twice a day, i shoot saline rinse into the tube, flushing it out and spitting out the tumor remnants, essentially draining it. healthy bone will grow around the area that is constantly being drained, making the tumor smaller and easier to fully remove. my surgeon guaranteed me it would not come back with this option. the only concern is this lasts for 6 months. then in march, i come back for removal through the inside of my mouth only.
i chose the second option mainly because it would let me go to school. im going to manage this tumor as a chronic condition for now and live my life.
on august 23rd i'll go under anesthesia again for the tube placement, and then every two
months or so they'll x-ray the tumor and see if it's ready to come out, then i can schedule the surgery during a break so i won't need to constantly miss school. i was under the impression i would need a flap, so this is..... really great.
i have a lot of feelings. i'm upset i have to have this sinking feeling for half a year. i believe draining it will work, and hopefully it'll relieve this horrible pressure on my face. it just sucks knowing i have it.
but during those 3 weeks where i didn't know if i had cancer or not, i came to terms with many things about my life and feelings. by far the hardest time of my life. nothing can compare and you never truly understand until you're in it. i am so tremendously grateful for the situation i'm in right now and more pumped than ever to fight this tumor and get it out. i am grateful i can be normal and go to my first semester of college, i'm grateful i can celebrate my 18th birthday outside of the hospital (my original surgery date was the 16th, my birthdays on the 19th.) i'm grateful these are all outpatient procedures, i'm just so grateful. it could be so much worse. i do plan on going to therapy after i get the tube placed so i can properly figure things out.
and finally, a thank you to this forum! i really needed somewhere to vent, i was horrified, and reading the stories/support of people who have been through much worse have put my situation in perspective. i appreciate it!
so yeah, last post! ever! thank y'all for supporting me, maybe i'll come back and update after my final surgery but yeah. doing bigger and better things now!! i'm super excited for the future and this was truly my best case scenario.
