Marcy/Michelle

The swelling and pain are pretty much normal after the surgery, at least from my experience. Swelling because the lymphatic channels have been removed along with the lymph nodes, and the lymphatic fluid doesn't have anywhere to drain to. So it just kind of collects in the side of the face, below the jaw etc for a while until the fluid finds new routes out of the area. I think the term is lymphedema, (not sure of spelling). Check some of the older threads, we've all been through it and there's some massage techniques that will help. My last surgery was in April, and I've still got some sweling in the jaw area.

As far as the pain, probably right side back of the head just behind the ear, going to area just below the ear. That's from the surgery also, again from my experience pretty normal post surgery trauma recovery. Don't know if you're squeamish or not so I won't describe why. Seemed like it was about 6 weeks for the pain to go away, but it does.

All pretty normal post surgery recovery, but still good idea to check with the surgeon to make sure nothing's amiss.

Bob S.