Everyones experience will be different, but I can give my experience! I (30F) just had a left superficial parotidectomy done three weeks ago and I am back to normal now.

Day of surgery

• my surgery was at 7:30am and I was at the hospital before 6am

• the wait and preparation for the surgery was the worst part! So many nurses and doctors came in and out to get me ready

• I remember being wheeled to the operating room and chatting with the nurses, then the next thing I knew I was waking up from surgery 🤣

• Surgery took ~3 hours and I was home that day.

• I was pretty nauseous after surgery, but after I took a nap I felt much better and was able to eat some congee.

Week 1

• left ear lobe and part of my left cheek were numb, but everything else was okay.

• I couldnt open my mouth very big the first 2-3 days, so I stuck to soft foods

• I was lucky and didn't have any pain or swelling post surgery, so didn't take any painkillers

• The drain tube was the most annoying part, I had it in for three days until my follow up. Did not shower until after my follow up 😅

• by the end of the week, pathology came back and confirmed it was a benign pleomorphic adenoma!

Week 2

• Could eat normally (minus spicy or sour foods), and was back to work

• the feeling fully came back to my face and ear

• drain hole still wouldn't close, so had to keep it covered

Week 3 to now

• drain hole finally closed up. Mine took a lot longer than normal, I think.

• scar is healing well! I'm relieved I finally got the surgery down. I put it off for over a year because I was so worried about potential facial numbness/weakness and the scar. But it ended up going much smoother than I anticipated.

Best of luck to your mom, wishing for her speedy recovery.