Hi Mamas:
My sweet 5 year old daughter has been diagnosed with a giant cell granuloma on her gum. It is a benign tumor (thank God!), but is the agressive type. She had surgery to remove it once but unfortunately, it returned within 6 months. Now her oral surgeon has decided that the best course of action is a series of injections (yikes!) into the tumor. AS you can imagine, I am not looking forward to this, however I will of course do what is best for my baby girl. I was just wondering if anyone out there had any expeirence with this type of therapy - it's 1 corticosteroid shot into her little mouth 1 time per month for 6 months. Let me know if anyone has experience and what I should expect. Thanks so much mamams! -M.
This is not what you want to hear-but, sometimes we all need tough love. Be glad it is benign, because the alternative is hell. i know, my son had a malignant brain tumor, and I never thought Ii would hope for anything to be benign. 1 shot a month is nothing.....be thankful and pray for your GOOD fortune.
M.,
I am a big believer in alternative approaches. I would suggest you check out magnet therapy. It can be used to treat tumors. Go to www.biomagscience.net and read some of the testimonials. Call the people and talk to them to see what they recommend. At worst you invest $40 in a treatment that will absolutely do no harm, cause no pain and can be used in conjunction with the steroid treatment if you decide to pursue that. I think it is worth a try. They also sell a product called Activated Oxygen. You just add a few drops of it to water and it ups the oxygen content. Oxygen is what heals you.
The other thing that occurs to me is turmeric. It is anti-inflammatory and is used in aryuvedic medicine to treat tumors. It is a spice used in Indian cooking and you may have it in your kitchen. Buy it from a health food store so it is not irradiated. That kills the medicinal properties. You can get it in tincture form (liquid) which would probably be the easiest way to administer it. Since it is a food source you don't need to worry about it harming your daughter. Check with someone to see if they can recommend the correct dosage for a child. At worst it acts as a blood thinner which should not be an issue. Again, this could be done in conjunction with the magnets and the steroids.
Personally, I would try the magnets, the activated oxygen and the turmeric first. Try it for a month and at the same time monitor carefully the progress. If the tumor starts to get out of hand again, take her in for the steroid injections.
Most importantly, don't feed the tumor. Sugar is the number one offender. Be aware that juices have high sugar content. If you can, a consultation with an aryuvedic practitioner might be very helpful. No soda. No candy. Don't fall into the trap of "sugarless" gum/soda/candy. Aspartame, aka Splenda, Nutrasweet, is poison. It turns into formaldehyde when it is warmed to 90'. Our bodies are 98.6' Do what you can to beef up her immune system. Superfood is one of the best things you could do for her and the whole family. You can find it in any health food store. It is dehydrated greens that are packed with nutrition. You add it to juice. You can sprinkle it on salads.
Good luck!
I hope your daughter is doing well. I exactly know what you are going through, my son is 8 years old and about a year ago he was diagnosed with a giant cell granuloma in his upper maxilla. We did the steroids injections first for about 3 months, and then the doctor suggested surgery since there was no change in the size or issue of tumor. He had surgery on 01/29/12 and everything went good during the surgery but apparently it was not removed completely. We are now in search of new methods to treat this condition and would like to know if you found a solution to treat your daughter’s or if you can recommend a doctor to get a second opinion.
My husband and I will be contacting St. Jude’s to find out if they can recommend an alternative method to treat this, did you go to them for advice?
I know is kind of late to say this, but the injections is really no big deal when you compare it to what other kids have to go through .
Wish you and your family the best !
I am not sure if this would help, but you could try logging onto the website for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and look there for information on that type of tumor. If they can't help you, they probably know of someone who can. Best of luck in your situation. I am sorry that your family has to go through that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_giant_cell_granuloma has a brief description of the condition and it is usually in older people over 50, 60% of whom are female. Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_giant_cell_granuloma is another form for young adults. My son had a keloid which is a scar that was caused by the removal of a growth on his shoulder blade. The dermatologist tried to flatten the keloid with monthly injections of steroids, which sounds just like the treatment your oral surgeon is doing. My son had no side effects except that the shots were painful as there were multiple injection sites within the lesion. He was 12 at the time and complained. I can't imagine what a 5 year old would do. Did you get a second opinion?
Hello, M.,
Please consider another much safer option.
I would be honored to help you.
My very best,
T.
M.,
I'm sorry you're going through this. I can just imagine how you feel at the thought of taking her in every month for a shot in her gums! The silver lining is that once the shot is given, there is a good chance she may not experience much more discomfort than what the granuloma might already be causing. If anything maybe a little soreness, which has got to be better, many times over than having an open wound from surgery. I wish you and your little one the best. I hope the treatment works and, God willing, it will soon be a thing of the past.
-I.
