Neck dissection

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catfish_58
catfish_58 Member Posts: 138 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

had just talked to the doctor today and found out my scans came back and was told that I had limp nodes on both sides of my neck that were border line,The lump was the only other place that showed any signs of cancer,My neck is the only place for reoccurence and the doctor says we still don't know the primary yet,Also found out that my first cancer of the tounsils was a TQN3 stage 4,I'm not sure the meaning of this but was a far cry from what i was previously told.He suggested doing a byladeral neck dissection which will be an all day operation with a 2 day stay in the hospital,then a 2 week stay at home which is better than what I had thought from being off work,However I didn't hear anything about Radiation treatments or chemo,Does any of these have to be done with this operation?I plan to ask next call which will be Monday.I do wish to say I'm sorry if for any reason I have upset anybody here on the CSN,Upon my discovery (reoccurence of cancer) I feel like I may not have taken into consideration other peoples feeling every once in a while.I apologise if I gave that impression to anyone,I think of people here as a godsend and I am thankful for that everyday.For that i say thank you 100 times over,Anyways hope eveyone has a Happy Fourth of July

                    Chris

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  • KTeacher
    KTeacher Member Posts: 1,103
    #2
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    No need to apologize

    Heck, I would be long gone from this site if we couldn't stay on because of recurrence.  My second go around with the beast was a lump in my neck 1 year after my lip surgery followed by radiation.  At least 14 lymph nodes were removed and a salivary gland, only 1 node had cancer.  Followed by radiation.  It was easier for me the second time, I didn't have the Amifostine shot and I knew about protein powder so I didn't lose as much muscle.  I didn't want clothing touching my neck, you might look into tank type t shirts.  I only had the one side done, had a difficult time driving, takes awhile to be able to turn neck.  Stick around here and ask questions, we will answer to the best of our ability.

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #3
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    Neck dissection....

    Chris I had radial neck dissection 2~5 on both sides, 48 glands on the left and 38 on the right side. I could not survive radation because of my lungs are bad, or surgery, so they did a laryngectomy which ment I now could survive the surgery. The neck dissection was to prevent cancer returning to my lymph glands, which so far has worked fine for 8 months [NED]. If the glangs has shown cancer they might have had to do a mild form of radation. So I guess it can be done with or without radation. 

    Side effects; You feel the skin is being streched all the time. For me the left side will be numb the rest of my life, from my chin to my left ear. Can't feel my ear and headphones feel funny but you get used to that. At around the six month you start to get more soreness and some pain. Muscle relaxers help with that, and it getting tighter and harder to turn. I have full movement in my neck, it just feels tight all the time, but not that bad to live with. Oh, you do get a little scar. Because of the laryngectomy and neck dissection I was cut from ear to ear, but you can only see the scar on the left side and it's not bad.

    Hope this is some help. Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.

    Bill   [Lary sence Oct 2013]

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    #4
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    Chris, i'm sorry your news

    Chris, i'm sorry to hear this news and that you have to have this surgery.  I had a radical neck dissection and have permanent problems from it today.  i am not able to lift my left arm above my shoulder.  i had about 4 months or PT but after 4 months, they gave up and said there was nothing more they could do.  i still cannot turn my head fully to the left or the right.  i know there are others here tho who have had NO permanent problems at all.  I'm praying you will be one in their club.  keeping you in my thots and prayers for a successful and uneventful surgery and a very smooth recovery.  please let us know when you get your surgery date.  we will be here cheering you on and waiting for you to recover enough to update us on how you're feeling.  take care, friend.

    God bless you,

    dj

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #5
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    H&Neck

    Chris,

    Compassion, you wear it well.

    Good luck on the dissection, not everybody gets rads & chemo.

    Matt

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