03/02/2026
I had my salivary gland (and a bonus lymph node) out a couple weeks ago and I'm finally starting to get close to normal again.
The tumor was pleomorphic adenoma which is benign but becomes more likely to turn cancerous the longer it stays. I've been putting off this surgery since I found out about the tumor 5 years ago. I didn't realize it was more than 3 until I looked through my old posts.
I was lucky and it was stable. But this is a great example of the ADHD tax. Something gets put off, filed away, forgotten about. It could have gone badly.
It's healing extremely well. I've had a lot of pain as my nerves heal. Today might be the first day I haven't felt the need to take any painkillers (the pain is intermittent but not as intense as it's been). My skin is still numb between the incision and my jaw. I can't stick my tongue out all the way. But the incision is not very noticeable, at least with all the swelling lol.
I'm starting to get my voice back. I've had music in my head and managed to practice a fair amount today. I've done some reading (I'm on the appendices of LOTR).
I've been able to drive for a few days and today I stopped by the river and got out of my car in my slippers to take pictures of some swans. I remember slipping on the ice in that same spot (same reason) last year so I was careful to step where there were already footprints. It's easy to sink into the snow there. I didn't fall but my slippers got snow in them. Worth it. I'm going to be drawing a white on black series of swans like I did with the penguins.
The world is falling apart. I've been a bit cowardly because I worry that I won't be able to handle the trolls if they find my page. I don't feel like I have enough followers to counter them. I'd like to think people know where I stand.