The Ranula Chronicles: The beginning

You don’t typically gain weight on just one side of the face.

That's the epiphany I had after looking in the mirror. I can’t remember why I was staring at myself in the mirror- maybe I was doing one of my random “what’s my best side” kind of vanity sessions or was picking out a piece of food out of my teeth. Nonetheless, here I was, a very impressionable 2nd-year predoctoral dental student, realizing that something wasn’t right.

Dental school was tough and I self-medicated with food to cope. So, I wasn’t surprised to see that I had gained some pounds. But this happened to be the time our class was learning Oral Pathology, so of course, as soon as I realized weight gain wasn’t the reason why my left jaw was rotund, I flipped out.

Calls were made and appointments set up. The benefit of being part of the dental community was that surgeons, pathologists, and doctors were easily accessible.

The panoramic radiograph failed to show any salivary stones that may have been blocking a gland. A CT scan was ordered and I got to experience having myself “internally dyed”.

The good news: whatever it is, it probably is benign.

The bad news: whatever it is, it probably needs to come out.

I felt a mixture of relief and anxiety. It was strange to be related to healthcare but to also be a total stranger to healthcare simultaneously. I was training to be a provider and spent most of my time within the walls of a care facility, yet on the other side, I realized how clueless I was. Although I could understand the words being used, knew the people treating me, and what and how I was undergoing treatment, I was unfamiliar with the actual experience.

Today, I meet patients who are beginning their own journey into a very unknown world. In reflecting back to my own personal history, I’m better understanding and realizing just what a big question mark the future is and how much blind faith patients must have in their providers in order to move to the next step of confronting whatever beast is ahead.

Honestly, I’m hesitant to share this because you, reader, already know the ending. I don’t mention it too often because a) my condition was benign b) I’m fine and c) it was long ago.

But, I realize that this is an important part of who I am today. And for me, this part marked only the beginning of a 2.5 year process consisting of appointments, recurrences, hospitalizations, and four surgeries.

So while all the above reasons for not making this a big deal are true, I also think this is an opportunity to take the time to reflect and learn. So, bear with me or learn with me on some future posts, as I share with you my story, The Ranula Chronicles.

This post’s lesson: This is the image used to describe what a ranula is: https://radiopaedia.org/cases/ranula-1