Jim A James - Blog , AmeloJim A James - Blog , Amelohttps://www.jimajames.com/blogs/AmeloTue, 19 May 2026 07:34:35 +0200http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Ameloblastoma - 5 years on]]>https://www.jimajames.com/blogs/post/ameloblastoma-5-years-on-1
  • The jaw
  • Comparison

  • the jaws the same




  • Professor Ho Kee Hai

It seems hard to believe , but it's been now 5 years since I bit into a sandwich at Starbucks in Beijing, and experienced an explosion of pain in my jaw.

The CRT at the hospital showed that my lower left jaw had ceased to exist; an ameloblastoma.

Yikes!

Luckily I found Professor Ho Kee Hai and he shared with me his approach to managing this condition. Most doctors practice the approach of replacing the jaw bone with part of the tibia. It leaves scars like traintracks & the need for painkillers.

Professor Ho's approach led me to having 3 operations, taking out the tumor. Eventually the bone grows back.

Over the past few years, many have written to ask about how this has worked. Today I wanted to share my latest check up - 5 years on and I am still clear of the tumor. To say that this is a relief is an understatement.

]]>Fri, 29 Mar 2019 23:08:48 +0000<![CDATA[Jaw Recovers from Ameloblastoma]]>https://www.jimajames.com/blogs/post/jaw-recovers-ameloblastoma
Jaw bone recovery after Ameloblastoma surgery. Jaw bone recovery after Ameloblastoma surgery.                   Oct 2nd I returned for the day to Singapore to Professor Ho Kee Hai and a check up on the Ameloblastoma. Some 18 months after the initial diagnosis, 3 surgical procedures, and some discomfort, the jaw bone has repaired. This is nature at work. I find it hard to believe that it was Feb 2012 that I discovered this tumour in my jaw. I elected not to have the conventional procedure of replacing the tumour ridden part of the jaw with the fibia, which would have been quicker and more absolute. This alternative path has meant that I have retained my aging profile, and now have 2 ceramic implants on the left side of my jaw. The nerves are not quite the same and I constantly feel as though I am drooling out of the left side of my mouth which leads me to suck in my cheek; I notice this mainly now due to a line in my cheek and as in photos I look as though I am grimacing. Grimacing I am not - I have had a miraculous escape. I hope that this case of a successful treatment of Ameloblastoma by a moderate course of treatment is an encouragement to other sufferers. Hopefully this is also the last post of this kind on my blog. Namaste  
]]>Thu, 03 Oct 2013 09:16:37 +0000<![CDATA[Ameloblastoma surgery - one week on and the benefit of acupuncture]]>https://www.jimajames.com/blogs/post/ameloblastoma-surgery-one-week-on-and-the-benefit-of-acupuncture
The ameloblastoma surgery is now fading away and my main priority is recovery, and so I have turned to acupuncture as one way to stimulate the blood flow. The swelling on the face has now reduced and I am not on pain killers, nor missing nights of sleep. Alex Tan of Straightbamboo is a delightful, knowledgeable and sensible acupuncture practitioner at the Hutong here in Beijing. I decided to have acupuncture as a way to stimulate the blood to the face for the bone growth. The Chinese consider the flow of 'Qi,' life force, to be essential for good health. There are some  400 acupuncture points and 20 meridians connecting most of the points. These 20 meridians include the "twelve regular channels" or "twelve regular meridians", with each meridian corresponding to each organ; nourishing it and extending to an extremity.  The jaw is connected to the stomach, no surprisingly perhaps, by a meridian and so part of the treatment is to stimulate the meridian in the face which connects with the digestive system to release more nutrients. Insertion of the needles is relatively painless, penetrating down to 5mm in places into the sublayer of skin, but not into the flesh.  
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