Oh yeah, about that benign lump

What a few weeks we’ve had around here, right?

First I’m planning a party. Then an eviction. Then a move into the new Just Wright Citrus World Headquarters on the shores of Big Lake Henderson.

As that’s taking place, a middle-of-the-night tornado rips a path through Crystal River, as if our coastal neighbors haven’t suffered enough from Hurricane Idalia flooding a month ago.

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But it’s Monday now and time for some normalcy.

Even my calendar this week looks fairly blank. A Cattle Dog chat with a commissioner, then it’s clear.

Oops. What’s this appointment on Thursday? 

Surgery.

Funny how priorities change with new circumstances. Three months ago, neck surgery was the biggest priority in my life. Now it’s, like, No. 10.

The particulars:

About a year ago I was sitting at a red light in Dunnellon, mindlessly rubbing my face when I noticed a lump under and behind my left ear. 

“That’s funny,” I thought. “I don’t have one on the right side.”

Being an otherwise bright American male, I promptly forgot about it. Several weeks later I pointed it out to Deb, and then to my primary doctor. Both agreed it shouldn’t be there.

Cutting (ha!) to the chase: It’s a benign tumor but has to come out.

I tried to talk two doctors out of the surgery. If it’s benign, what's the harm of keeping it there? Medical people have an answer: Terrible Things Can Happen if left unattended.

We delayed the surgery, hoping the lump would, you know, disappear. It didn’t.

For those scoring at home, the procedure is called a parotidectomy, and it’s expected to take three or four hours. That seemed a little lengthy considering the small space, but the challenge is removing the bad stuff without damaging my facial nerves.

I’m as simple a person as you’ll find and I require simple explanations, as the doctor’s nurse was happy to do. She showed me her hand and spread out all the fingers. Those are the nerves, she said, and the surgeon must work around them to remove the tumor.

See, that’s easy to understand. One hiccup from the surgeon and I can no longer wink. Got it. Take your time, Doc.

The recovery, well, that’s sort of the point of today’s blog. This surgery affects you too.

Back in April, when we thought the surgery would happen in May, Deb and I sat down and I showed her every single step in the blog posting process. My plan was to pre-write a week’s worth of blogs and Deb would post each night.

As mentioned earlier, priorities have changed. With our move into the new Just Wright Citrus World Headquarters on the shores of Big Lake Henderson, I’m more motivated than ever to recover quickly from this procedure.

To show my (misplaced) confidence, we’re shelving plans for Deb to post blogs all next week. Instead, I’ll have a Facebook post on Friday, a Facebook blog on Monday, and plan on posting a website blog next Tuesday. As with any live event, details are subject to change.

Now. I want to say something very important. While this is a little scary for me, it’s nothing compared to what others are going through. It seems like everyone is facing some personal struggle, whether it’s health, finances or a tornado just tore the roof of their home four weeks after floods ruined the furniture.

I’m not looking for sympathy, though I’ll always take prayer. (Never trust anyone who says they don’t need prayer.)

The biggest issue, other than pain (MAJOR opponent of pain), is it’ll be a few weeks before I’m driving again. That is literally one-quarter of my Just Wright Citrus life. I always tell folks they can find me at one of four places:

- The World Headquarters working or goofing off.
– County Commission meetings.
- Cattle Dog for chats.
- On the road in Citrus County, or the Greater Citrus Area.

To recap: Surgery on Thursday, no website blog Friday or Monday, then we’re back at it (I hope) next week just in time for the County Commission public hearing on the Pine Ridge golf course master plan change.

Pine Ridge land-use fight. Nothing sounds sweeter.

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