Sherry, good to hear from you again. I had the exact same treatment as Ken except I had five nodes removed totalling approximately 35 glands. I didn't have any eating/swallowing issues from the surgery. In fact, the surgery was nothing compared to the rad and I was home within 14 hours of the surgery. There is some pain and swelling, but it is easily taken care of with meds. The drain tubes were removed within 5 days as I recall and it was no big deal. Neither was the removal of all of those staples. It was a real non-event for me. Looking back, I'm glad I still had the peg as it was easier taking the meds than trying to swallow them at that point, so having the surgery soon after treatment was a good thing. Congrats on the scan results. Isn't "no cancer" a very pleasant sound? I floated out of the hospital that morning. God bless.