Parotid gland tumor. Will need surgery. Your experience at Mayo?

Never smoked, only second hand smoke as a child from my dad smoking at home. He died of oral SCC in 1993. As a veterinarian I have had more than average radiation exposure from restraining animals for xrays so I consider that a predisposing factor, as well as the genetic component.
That's wonderful that you are seeing improvement! Be patient and know that it will continue to improve for years. How did your recent scans go? (fingers crossed for good report)
Sue

Thank you for replying Sue. The oncologist informed me that my scans were exceptionally clean, with no signs of cancer anywhere. It was quite emotional for me. He said all my organs are working and numbers are all normal. I go back every 3 months for scans the first year and then less as the years go by. I'm so grateful to the doctors at Mayo and their robust scheduling department.

By the way, I adore animals. After losing my cats (16 years they were sisters), I realized that I couldn't go through that pain again. I enjoy dogsitting now.

Catherine, I had tumor involvement in the facial nerve so a section had to be removed. I had total right side facial paralysis when I woke up from surgery. By anastomosing the ends back together during the initial surgery, my paralysis was starting to improve with increased muscle tone 5 months after surgery. By 9 months I could really start to tell that there was improvement. Nerve tissue is very slow to heal and you need patience. It is a very slow process of regaining control of muscles that had atrophied. Then there is an issue with synkinesis where the nerves healing together are not exactly the same as it was initially. So now certain muscles have different control.....like attempting to raise the eyebrow might cause the corner of my mouth to twitch. I feel that the brain figures this out slowly and I do facial muscle exercises to help. I will never be able to raise my eyebrow but I had a plastic surgery to elevate the brow. My facial appearance will never be like before surgery, but I am amazed by little improvements I still see 12 years later. Spending time outside in cold weather makes my facial muscles very stiff and slow to respond. This is just a part of the new normal, and better than being dead from cancer. I would certainly recommend a life saving surgery even though the risk of facial paralysis is there. I won't sugar coat it, it takes some real motivation to get back to your life during facial paralysis, but knowing it is temporary and there will be gradual improvement is what has gotten me though.