Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. An update. I talked to a nurse at the ENT who dx mom. It is not jaw cancer but cancer of of parotid gland. She told me the tumor was 2" (which if my metric conversion is correct it's about 5cm) They did a needle aspiration while she was there and the preliminary report showed cancerous cells. The final report should be in tomorrow or Friday. She is also scheduled to have a PET scan. She is settled in her new home, a small, private (4 residents) assisted living facility and says she likes it. I have been approved for FMLA at my job but am going to wait to see what I am going to do. I am not wealthy by any means and this would be my 3rd trip down there this year, and of course, unpaid. I will find a way to do it if it will help her but for now I want to wait and see what the final test results are. I don't know how much her body can take at this point but I am not going to let her go through this without some kind of family support. My brother lives there but I'm not sure how much good he'll do. Ahh..the dysfunctional family!