Susan,

How are you doing, ever find out what caused your swollen lymph node/abscess?

Mine turned out to be from a virus which was awful and long-lasting so I took some antibiotics.

I had an MRI, nothing came back odd but my doctor wanted to move forward with the surgical biopsy just to be sure. I was knocked out with anesthesia for a couple of hours. The operation wasn't too bad, much easier than having wisdom teeth removed. Still not sure why they couldn't just fine-needle biopsy it, but it is what it is.

I'll find out what the lump is on Monday! The entire left side of my hard palate is 100% numb as of 15 hours post-op, which has me concerned because my speech is ever so slightly off now.