1 month post-op

It's been four weeks and a day since my parotid tumor (a pleomorphic adenoma) was removed. It sounds like a broken record when I talk about the healing process - still painful to the touch around my face and neck, bottom half of ear is still completely numb, the stitch is still sticking out at the top of the incision, and there's still a lump (about 1 inch by 1/2 inch) where the actual tumor was. See, nothing's really changed.

And yes, I'm still impatient, in case you were wondering. I still expect to wake up one day and find I've bounced back to normal. And when I do wake up and realize my neck still doesn't stretch the way I want it to, yes, I get upset.

It's hard and depressing, yet it is crazy to even feel this after just one month of surgery. Even sillier to admit, but since I'm being honest about the recovery, I feel I owe you the truth. It's definitely hard for me to accept something's changed, and that I have to slow down or just be patient while it heals. While I heal.

But in reality, I have nothing to be upset about - it's not cancer and I'm alive and well, surrounded by a super supportive group of friends and loved ones, and I'm here with my family. And speaking of family, I have two cutie pies waiting for me to read a bedtime story, so I'm going to scoot on upstairs.