Fran, sorry to hear you are up to bat again. I had my dissection May 4, 2004. My surgery came after the rad/chemo treatments and included removal of about 8 oz. of muscle, 35 or so lymph nodes, and 3.5 hours of work on the part of the doctor. He spent and extra 1.5 hours due to radiation to scrape off tissue surrounding the carotid artery and nerves in the shoulder. I ended up with some lost strength and some continuing pain, but nothing worth talking about. I don't even take tylenol anymore. The surgery was way easier than radiation. It was also easier than my tonsilectomy. So all in all, it was not too bad. I could also eat, so that helped. I didn't stay in the hospital after surgery, they put me in the recovery room overnight because my surgery was late in the day. I went home the next morning so was never admitted to the hospital. It worked out OK for me. Also, it was good news that the tissue all showed no cancer. Will pray for your successful and easy surgery.