Hi all,

I am doing some research to help with my coping and understanding of a recent diagnosis to my future father in law.

my future father in law (ive been engaged about 2 and a half months) has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor that resides near his left jaw bone. He�s been going to a bunch of specialists for a while to try to pinpoint the cause of the pain he�s been feeling for the past 6-9 months, and they�ve finally found the tumor. He has surgery scheduled for Wednesday to remove it (along with some of the surrounding bone, tissue, and muscle), which will then be followed by rounds of radiation/chemotherapy as appropriate and then reconstructive surgery when the area is cancer-free. They have also seen some "bumps" on his neck so they will open the neck during the surgery and check that out/clean it out as well if necessary. I�ve been told that the surgery will be tricky, most likely an all day affair, but that they are optimistic about it and the chances are good that the cancer is localized to only this area. He will be in the intensive care unit of the hospital for about a week and then either return home or go to general care based on how things go.

I am trying to remain optimistic but get very scared when i read about the survival rates and everything that he will be going through in the upcoming months.
- does anyone have similar experiences- with tumors near jaw bone? this happened to my future father in law in the past and they did surgery to remove it. the current tumor is behind his scar tissue.
- what is he allowed to eat/drink, what can i bring him that will help?

feeling very overwhelmed, scared, nervous. but it has helped now that i have found this website to talk to others. thanks in advance for your help.