Kevin,
Another Canadian....! Welcome to the forum, Bye!(no worries to our American friends; and insider joke) I'm out in the redneck West, but we're much closer because of our shared battle.

I never considered the shark or alligator story...maybe I should go with a bear fight out here though. ;^)

I lost both the subman and the parotid on my left side during the ND and mandiblectomy. For months I had huge problems with dry mouth, but it has improved for me a great deal recently.

I'm a few days away from one year post surgery. My wife and I were talking about the term "cancer survivor" last night.

I feel the same way as you. I'm participating in a Cancer Society Relay for life this weekend. They asked me how long I'd been a "cancer Survivor" so they could announce that information during the relay.

I told them I thought of myself as a 51 year survivor of the journey of life; cancer was just a curve ball thrown in at year 50.

It was the biggest battle I've had to fight, for certain. It hasn't been the only battle during this journey, and probably won't be the last.

I've learned to be a pretty good scrapper through it all. I'd rather not fight again, but if I have to, I'm ready for it!
Wayne