"Superficial"

It's just after 6:00 PM and I just got off the phone with my E/N/T guy, who did the operation on my jaw around 8:00 this morning. He called just to check in.

I assured him I had no pain or any discomfort, to which he said, "Yeah, well you really shouldn't. The tumor was really very superficial -- it didn't get down into the muscle or anything like that."

(Now honestly, folks, when was the last time you enjoyed -- you were thrilled --at being called "superficial"?)

Anyway, I told him I still found it puzzling that the tumor showed up at all, and he said that he had talked to my radiation doc during the day, who confirmed that radiation can sometimes trigger a latent patch of pre-cancerous cells. That it's unusual, but certainly not unheard of. And that it's not something to worry about: if it's going to happen at all, it will happen shortly after the radiation treatment. Like now.

So.