u/twerpeeeeeeee

Currently bingeing the show for the first time ever and am loving it. A genuine question as I am three seasons in—where do Elizabeth and Phil store all their disguises? Surely the little space behind their laundry can’t conceal every wig?

Separately, always wondered where they actually don the disguises. In their car? The one time Phil
got his wig ripped off it seemed painful—ton of glue and safety pins that seems hard to apply in the car but maybe easy for a super spy…?

I (31F) thought I’d share my story here since this is a rare cancer and I know I was searching for any and all details when initially diagnosed.

Background, I am healthy and have never, until this year, had surgery let alone any major medical scares. I decided to finally go to the dentist for a regular cleaning (was behind on this for at least 3-4 years with a combo of grad school and moving cities) back in March. During the cleaning, the dental hygienist noticed a small lesion behind my upper left wisdom tooth. Totally invisible unless you pulled my cheek all the way out, and didn’t “hurt” in the traditional sense when she pressed on it but def felt wrong, as in she shouldn’t be touching it. Dentist was unsure of what it was, so referred me to the oral surgeon to investigate.

Two to three weeks later, I am at the oral surgeon who thinks it may be my wisdom tooth irritating the gum. He recommends I pull the wisdom tooth and also does a biopsy of the tissue to be safe. Keep in mind I had no other symptoms to indicate this was cancer - no visible mass, etc. Well, ten days post biopsy, I come back to the oral surgeon to get the readout that the tissue was malignant, indicating low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

I was in shock. There is no history of this cancer in my family, and for background, never smoked, drank, etc. The surgeon immediately referred me to a Head and Neck cancer oncologist the following week, where his initial physical examination thought stage 1, and a same day CT scan confirmed a singular 2cm mass in my left maxillary gland.

They booked me in for surgery to remove the mass the following week where I had an infrastructure maxillotectomy to remove the mass. Essentially, they removed part of my hard palate, removed the tumor with margins, and plugged it up with my own cheek tissue. Surgery went well, but was intensive and I was in the hospital for a few days.

Now one month out, doctor confirmed surgery was a success with clear margins and we’ll be doing observation. I still am swollen, have stitches everywhere, and am working through trismus but wanted to share my own story as I know I was desperately looking for similar ones when I received my diagnosis.

Some thoughts - the only symptom I can remember having prior to diagnosis is that when someone would grab my chin, it would pain me if they touched the area right under my ear. Aside from that, had no other symptoms.

Secondly, sounds naive, but I do wish I was better prepared for how serious the surgery and recovery time would be. Loved my doctor and team, but they def give you the best case possible scenario for healing (ten days recovery, etc.). The reality is that this is a serious surgery that will take months of basic healing and more time for physical therapy to rectify the lockjaw that develops after.

Above all, very grateful for how quickly things moved and that it was the best possible outcome
it could be. Happy to answer any questions for those in a similar situation.