Thank you so much for your kind words everyone! Feeling much better reading them.

ChristineB, you are so right. I have promptly re-signed up for cable (snagged free HBO for an year) and already managed to get through the whole first season of "Homeland". I wish the whole government shut-down mess would end real soon so that I could go back to work and keep myself busy with lab work. Not to mention that having a paycheck would be nice too. And I also found a counselor, had a first visit today.

N74tg, you are very kind. Please do not feel silly at all. Seems that in addition to SCC we have a lot more in common, such as having no family/having many friends and love for dancing (I wrote on your thread that I have been doing competitive ballroom dancing for many years).

Shawn, seems like you are a kindred spirit. I have managed to finish the whole first season of "Homeland" over the weekend and started the second today. "Downtown Abbey" is next on the list.

Got the results of the ovary ultrasound super promptly. Apparently it is a "small mildly complex cyst". My doctor said more often than not these are usually benign and go away on their own, but of course they could be malignant too. The usual followup is another ultrasound on 6-8 weeks to see if it is still there. If yes, then more tests will follow.

I also saw my surgeon for the post-op follow up. Good news: I am apparently healing really well. Bad news: I complained about the neck numbness not improving much and he said it might never go away. I sure wasn't aware of that possibility. Strange news: he thinks there might have been a mix up with the lymph node labeling and the one positive for SCC might have been from level II and not IV, as PET indicated activity in level II. And finally, confusing advice: he thinks I should wait with a new thyroid biopsy till after the RAD. His logic is that even if it is cancer, there is nothing to be done about it (that is surgery) till after I have recovered from Rad, and thyroid cancer is among easier ones to treat. He believes it would be better for now just not knowing and focusing on getting through Rad. Not quite sure what to make of this yet.