I am suffering from something, but I don’t know from what. Neither do any of my doctors.

While it doesn’t seem to be life-threatening, at times it can be pretty scary; and at other times, confusing, or just annoying.

My most obvious symptom is swelling under the jaw. Up until very recently, I had believed that this was a problem with my submandibular salivary glands. From time to time, they become clogged and swollen with saliva. In order to relieve the discomfort, I have to manually empty the glands by stroking them. This action produces spurts of salty-tasting saliva, thick, stringy mucus, and some sticky white threads. The threads are the strangest substance produced by my glands, as no dentist or doctor has been able to determine what they are.

For the last several months, I have undergone several tests to try to discern what was causing the blockage of my salivary glands. However, recent CT scans have shown that there is actually nothing wrong with the physiology of my glands, nor is there any stone or any other obstruction inside them. Instead, it showed that I had some edematous swelling around my jaw and cheeks.

Lost for any other ideas about what might be wrong with me, my oral surgeon has suggested that I begin seeing a rheumatologist in order to begin testing for autoimmune disease.

Now that my research and testing have taken a new turn, I have decided to document my illness, testing, and treatment on this blog. I have found a lot of unresolved discussion online about people suffering from swollen salivary glands that produce white strings – however, there doesn’t seem to be anything published by any medical institutions about it. Thus, this blog is my effort at adding to the online discourse, in order to help someone else who may be seeking treatment for the same illness. I have no idea where this journey will take me, and in time, this blog may change identity to reflect whatever diagnosis I (hopefully) receive.

In the meantime, I will begin my writing by documenting the previous progression of my sickness, as well as things I have learned along the way about relating to others about my illness.

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me. I hope that we’ll be able to discover a breakthrough together.

 

Yours,

Maladie