Oh yeah! I never made an update here after my surgery a month ago. Oops!
Anyway, surgery went well, and I didn't end up with facial paralysis. 🥳🥳🥳

Now that I don't have a massive tumor on my face, nobody stares and gawks or makes rude comments or asks unwanted questions at me in public anymore, and also I look mostly like myself again for the first time in years. and TBH it's been kinda disconcerting, but also a welcome change because I HATED not looking like myself and being a public spectacle every time I go on a walk or buy cat food. :'D

The only real complications have been that the left side of my jaw would cramp up whenever I started eating, but that's almost entirely gone away now, and that I have no feeling in my left ear, but that's supposed to correct itself within the next 17 months.
Also the inside of my left cheek is sometimes slightly dry, but TBH I assumed it'd be MUCH worse after losing a salivary gland, so I'm not complaining. :P

Also, not directly related to the surgery, but I desperately need a haircut. I was very distracted by medical stuff last year, so I've not had one since like, May. And now I've gotta wait because I don't feel comfortable having clippers and scissors so close to my incisions until they're 10000% healed up. Oops! :'D

EDIT:
Oh yeah! and something I forgot to mention is that my hearing's better on that side now!
I got stung by a wasp behind that ear YEARS ago, and my ear's felt like it was full of fluid and my hearing's been coming and going ever since, and I guess it was finally able to drain itself without that massive parotid gland in the way. :'D
I hope I get used to this new loudness sooner than later, because I've been getting overwhelmed by loud sounds more easily lately, and it was already easy to get overwhelmed on days where I was completely deaf on that side. Oops!