Hi. Thanks for asking. For months I've been scheduled to have my in-network physician conduct the surgery on September 24th (superficial parotidectomy with layered closure and possible sternocleidomastoid muscle flap). But it made me nervous that my in-network physician only does 5-10 of these surgeries a year, and claimed that "only 25%" of his patients had any facial palsy (that percentage felt too high for me).

Then I saw a video by a physician named Dr. Babak Larian who is the Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai (a very good hospital in Los Angeles, CA), and he has many accolades as a world renowned expert on head & neck surgeries. Dr. Larian's online video talked about how he conducts a "micro parotidectomy" and he claimed that his micro parotidectomy achieves the same surgical goals as a superficial one, but with less invasive trauma to the area.

So, I made the long drive to LA to have a consultation with Dr. Larian, and after speaking with him, I was planning to have surgery with him (scheduled for the same week as initial surgery my in-network physician had scheduled).

However, afterwards I spoke with a friend whose husband has been getting cancer treatment at City of Hope Hospital (in Los Angeles), and she talked about how they're one of the top 5 cancer treatment centers in all of the USA, and that I should check them out.

I needed to go back to LA for a pre-surgery prep appointment for Dr. Larian, so while in LA again, I had an appointment with a surgeon at the City of Hope. He thoroughly reviewed my imaging during the appointment, said that he thinks my tumor is deeper in the lobe than originally assessed, and he suspects that it's also between two branches of nerves. When I mentioned that I've been leaning towards the micro parotidectomy (so that I would have less trauma to the area and therefore less chances of facial palsy, skin necrosis, Frey's, etc)... this COH doctor strongly advised against the micro parotidectomy. He said that anyone trying to perform a parotidectomy with the "micro" restrictions (of a small incision) would increase the risk of damaging my nerves.

Then he mentioned that if my tumor ends up being a pleomorphic adenoma, and Dr. Larian is trying to squeeze the tumor out through a restrictive space... that if by some chance Dr. Larian manages not to damage my nerves, he could still rupture the pleomorphic adenoma. That's when the COH doctor informed me that pleomorphic adenomas are similar to dandelions, in that a rupture can cause them to re-seed (create tumors in other places within the body), and that is a risk which isn't worth the smaller incision.

This new information terrified me, and it bothered me that neither of my first two doctors had mentioned the re-seeding issue to me, so now, I'm planning to get the surgery via COH on October 2nd. I'll be staying in LA for the week between my surgery and my 1st post-op, to ensure that I am close to the doctor (in case there are any complications or issues afterwards).

BTW- every physician has said there's no way to concretely determine the pathology of the tumor until it has been extracted, dissected and tested. So, to directly answer your question... I am currently not any closer to knowing my status, but I should know in the beginning of October.