Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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The Salivary Glands Experiment. I have lived a long and precarious life. In Africa, I was pursued twice by elephants! I was treated for tuberculosis in Turkey. And finally, I had both squamous and basal cancer cells, Culminating with a long treatment for leukemia. I had a serious case of squamous cell carcinoma On the left side of my neck. As a result I had all left-sided glands removed, Including the salivary glands. This was done to prevent cancer from affecting any glands. Weeks of radiation topped this off. What was interesting about all this was a certain phenomenon. If I sucked two candies or two Tums, Pressed against the roof of my mouth by my tongue, The sweet on the right would dissolve much faster Than the one on the left with no salivary glands! I found this fascinating and have repeated it several times. It empirically proves to me that salivary glands truly function! Frank Maurer 9 June 2026 1400 Hours.