been peeking in here for awhile...thought i'd introduce myself....i'm sue,44,mother of three,24,21,and 10...grandma of 1.between thanksgiving and christmas i noticed a lump on the left side of neck.one day it wasn't there,the next day it was-made me very uneasy.saw my gp,she ran blood tests and gave me a script for antibiotics.she told me not to worry,no indications of lymphoma,iwas young,healthy,non-smoker,must be an infection.two weeks later it's bigger and my face feels kinda numb so i return to doctor.she refers me to an ent,appt. in 2 weeks.he looks at me ,predicts cat-scratch fever,runs a ct scan and removes lymph node...2 weeks later.tells me it looks ok -come see him in a week.in his office,he tells me the node was larger than he thought but i was ok,but let him check my path report.he returns to room,kinda pale,and starts saying words like metsasic cancer ,head and neck,unknown primary......i felt totally crushed!1 month later,i'm getting ready to undergo neck dissection and a series of biopsies to determine the primary at the james cancer hosiptal.i'm trying to be upbeat(failing badly)and not so damn scared.i read in here everyday,thank you for being here! any words of wisdom? and does anyone have any thoughts on whether i will be able to return to work(soon?ever?)? i am a construction worker and have always been the primary bread-winner. thanks,sue