Thanks for the good wishes and replies from Charm, Gabe and Suzanne!

I have booked in to do the 10 day retreat, commencing the 30th November, health permitting!

I have been battling with what my ENT calls 'occipital neuralgia' for the past 3 weeks, which has been causing stabbing pain on the left side of my head intermittently (mostly in the mornings)and have a headache in the same region the rest of the time. He is going to refer me to a neurologist because he doubts it is related to my OC problems. I'm a little more sceptical because I have a new lump at the site of my previous cancerous lymph node and am having an MRI on Friday - I can't help thinking the timing of these two events is more than coincidental. My ENT has given no indication of what treatment I will have if this lump is positive (other than to say they would do a FNA to test the lump)so I was very interested to read another thread in this forum discussing whether further surgery would be possible.

Given my previous surgery and radiation to the same area I'm certainly hoping that I will have treatment options if indeed the node (if that's what it is) is cancerous. Do you still have lymph nodes left after a neck dissection?? I'm 51, with two teenage children (aged 19 and 17) and certainly not ready to throw in the towel!

Anyway I'm probably pre-empting a result that may turn out to be negative. Now that would be a great result....but I think given my history very unlikely.

Sue