When I had an earache for a couple of weeks in August 2007 and couldn’t sleep on my right side for very long, I went to my primary care doctor. She told me I had an ear infection. I was given antibiotics and sent home. After a few weeks, I noticed a knot in my cheek, and it got even harder to sleep.

I thought something else was wrong.

My salivary cancer diagnosis

I was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a type...