Oh, You Didn't Gain Weight, You Had A Mass In Your Neck!

We didn't really notice the difference in Dan's neck. It was a slow progression (although looking back at pictures, we start to see a change). But suddenly, he wasn't able to eat well, he was choking in his sleep, and eventually he couldn't even drink water! Upon a doctor's visit, it was thought to be a swollen gland, but it was quickly apparent that antibiotics would not help. He was scheduled for surgery right away.

Here's a before picture:

He went in for surgery and they found a large mass in his neck. Larger than any they had removed from an adult. It was quite impressive. In fact, shield your eyes, here's some pictures!

 

I can happily report that after a week he was back at work and doing well. The lab results came back as something that he likely had had since birth just chose to present now. There was no cancer or any risk of it returning. Phew!