I am an Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon...A carpenter of the body. I've missed work a total of 3 days in the last fifteen years of practice due to illness. In 6 years of residency and fellowship I missed only 4 days after having ACL reconstruction. I never get sick!

My stellar attendance record is about to change.

Recently, I have been diagnosed with Ameloblastoma...an uncommon, benign yet aggressive tumor of my jaw.

I am not a wordsmith, but I have been inspired by the few others out there who have blogged about their experiences with ameloblastoma. I look at it from a clinical perspective as a surgeon (While the diagnosis is foreign to me, the surgical management and treatments are very familiar to me.) and scientist, I am also the patient. A rare perspective that I thought by sharing, I could enlighten others with both clinical information, and personal experience.


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Here Kitty Kitty - Time For A CAT Scan


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTeKOFhrqVAjvRs8oJ3-IvALb9nPeucW1fAg4vV2m8HsUfgX5SFELAYq1hR-Hwo9pBWCiUsTqJe187V85bA-HBSc1Vo3ZuhuAG3S45Xadas7x9X4crUbv9qOoxXSxtkAdz73ATIwL0-uUo/
 http://www.funnytimes.com/playground/img/125852407027532.pngOk, sorry for the pun.

A CAT scan is an advanced anatomical imaging tool also known as Computerized Axial Tomography. These are 2 dimensional x-ray slices that allow us to re-create a 3 dimensional view of anatomy. CAT (or CT) is excellent for looking at the bone and skeleton. Technology these days makes CT fast and accurate (Although a single CT scan of the face exposes the patient to the same quanity of radiation as he/she gets over a 16 month period due to background radiation. Not something to ignore. Link for more information.)

The CT was NOTHING. It took literally 5 minutes. The contrast injection, however was...interesting. After the initial scan was taken, the dye was injected into my arm and another scan was done. Shortly after the injection, it felt like my butt was hot. Weird. The tech said that some people also say that it feels like they are peeing on themselves. Wish she had told me that beforehand.

Next step, back to Dr. W's office to go over the CT. Meow ;-)

So the scan confirmed that the lesion was contained in the jaw bone. No destruction of the teeth. It also showed that the lesion is on the lingual side of my jaw (the tongue side). This is important because the approach for biopsy needs to be on the side where the lesion is.

That's right....I said biopsy. Surgery to get a sample of the lesion. In many cases, the biopsy procedure actually removes the entire lesion. One and done. There may be a possibility that the biopsy shows something more serious, and more surgery would be required. Not likely, I am told.

We will do the biopsy in the office under any anesthesia that I preferred. I've never had a problem with dental procedures so I decided to start with local anesthetic (Lidocaine and Marcaine. Novocaine is no longer used, I learned) with nitrous oxide gas as a backup. (Laughing gas...common in the 1800's for recreational use, also the primary propellant in whipped cream cans. Ask me how I know!) "Any questions?" Nope. "Ok, we will see you next week."

"Oh, and grab a Werther's candy on the way out. They are really good."

A biopsy we will go...








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