Hi pummi...thankfully not a cancer diagnosis but in relation to your recovery following surgery..

I had a tumour in my parotid gland, had school aged children at the time and queried whether I had mumps.. the lump grew larger, swallowing became more difficult as well as the ability to move my he d and neck.. several visits to my G.P who were all baffled..aspiration carried out in hospital where I was being 'barrier nursed'  in case of infection.. lots of xrays and scans and finally the deci ion to operate.. the tumour was described as a polo shape encircling the parotid gland.. thankfully benign ( sorry waffling but I thought a bit of background would be useful)   my recovery was gradu l without any problems..D.N called for a few days,  after that I took care of it myself... 3 monthly check ups, then 6 then 12 then 3 years...this happened in the early 1980's.. no reoccurrence ️  

I wish you a good recovery and that your surgery goes well  

Hi Eastendgirl, thank you for responding, so glad you are well and thank you for sharing your experience

Hi, I went through almost exactly what you have described, six years ago. After the operation to remove the neck lump I had a few weeks of recovery and then it was decided that I should have radiotherapy for six weeks. This had been mentioned as a possibility prior to the op, but I guess what they found from what they removed they felt it was necessary. Now the good news is that I survived the five years, but I can’t say that the treatment stage was easy, because it wasn’t! You definitely need a friend with you, if you live alone, and as much support as you can get from family and friends. Eating can be an issue and your taste may change. Soup is good! Don’t worry about taking things easy, just do if you possibly can, and any activity to take your mind off worrying is good eg word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, the daily quiz in a newspaper, sudoku if you like numbers. Best wishes

Hi, thank you for sharing your experience, I'm glad everything has been positive since your op and recovery, it sounds as though you had quite a bit to go through. I've been busy batch cooking soups, I've also got protein powder to add into soups drinks etc, and I'll be stocking up on protein shakes just so I've got a reasonable amount of protein and nutrition to basically drink until I can eat slightly more solid foods, also plenty of apple juice, which seems to be recommended, I do enjoy puzzles etc and I've a few books I haven't managed to get round to yet. My friend will be staying for 6 days which should give me ample time to settle and get into a routine, then it'll be down to me which is fine I'm used to getting on with stuff. I have a dog so he'll be a comfort to have around and also I'll gradually start doing walks, short ones at first gradually building up, I have a garden so he'll be fine chasing a ball around it when I don't feel up to walking any distance. 

What a great positive outlook you have. Having a dog is an extra bonus! Stay strong 

Thank you