Thank you all for taking the time to explain all this to me. As I said my surgeon isn't worried about the swelling, but it nice to know the reason for it. I see him tomorrow, hopefully the results from the surgery will be back and we can discuss if radiotherapy will be necessary.

SCC type 1 tumor in left cheek aged 45
T2N1M0 - surgery 14/2/13 to remove tumor, skin graft from wrist, neck dissection. No rads/chemo.