Corrections

It seems I misunderstood, though we still believe we heard them say that the lymph node had been removed. We've been back to the Surgeon and we now have a different story.

I'll quote them, in the interest of accuracy:
DIAGNOSIS:
MASS, BASE OF NECK, EXCISION:
METASTATIC CARCINOMA CONSISTENT WITH METASTATIC RENAL CELL CARCINOMA [notice: no use of "papillary"]

And a little more which suggests why we may have been confused:
THIS IS A MASS IN WHICH THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT THIS REPRESENTS A LYMPH NODE, OR IF IT WERE A LYMPH NODE, IT HAS BEEN TOTALLY REPLACED. [does that not remind you of petrified wood?]

So the upshot is that the lump in my throat still a lump in my throat, a tumor.

The excised mass was sent to "Foundation One for special studies"; I hope to find out what this foundation is on my meeting with the Oncologist on the thirtieth.

Flying fortress cloud