Had a modified neck dissection with a skin graft from my left arm into my left cheek. The swelling has been really bad. I didnt need a trachy but my neck and cheek are huge! Surgeon says he isnt worried but wondered if anyone could let me know their experiences and if there is anything I can do to speed up the healing. Everything else healing really quick so this is why I am feeling impatient about my neck. Thank you

It's very normal for this to be the case after a neck dissection. The physiology of a neck dissection is this. The lymphatic system runs parallel to your circulatory, the job of this system is to take your blood and clean it (through the nodes) and then dump it back into the circulatory system.

So if you remove say - 40 nodes- you've removed the pathways for the lymph fluid to travel, therefore it gets stuck in the tissue.

This is why you are swollen, and likely there is a lot more lymph there now because the body's reaction to trauma (surgery) is to send blood and fluid into the area to heal it.

Look into lymphatic massage. A few visits will teach you how to do it to yourself, this will help build new pathways to drain and improve circulation. I'm 2 years out from surgery and most days I am fine. Sometimes I am a bit swollen, often due to how I've slept. Exercise helps too because it helps move your circulation etc...

best of luck!

I was super swollen (and it was hard to the touch), and almost 5 months past surgery, I still have swelling on one side, although it is softer now and lessening incrementally. As Cheryl said, the removal of the nodes, and the scar tissue prevent the "normal" movement of fluid.

I have also done lymphatic massage, and my physiotherapist taped the more swllen areas to encourage movement to where nodes still were (in my case by my jaw), which also helped.

In addition to lymphatic massage, light exercise, even sauna, some have done acupuncture to help with lymphodemia, pain. Another new therapy I heard being used in a Novia Scotia hospital recently is liposuction, for head and neck lymphodrmia, that was not previously seen used for this. Good luck with everything,

Thank you all for taking the time to explain all this to me. As I said my surgeon isn't worried about the swelling, but it nice to know the reason for it. I see him tomorrow, hopefully the results from the surgery will be back and we can discuss if radiotherapy will be necessary.

Best of luck hope your appointment went well.

Saw surgeon yesterday and he is very pleased with results from the surgery. Good clear margins and out of the 30 lymph nodes they removed only one had a sign of cancer and not all of it. Therefore he is not recommending radiotherapy at the present time. They will continue to monitor me every 6 weeks. He removed 30mls of fluid from my neck. He cut a couple of stitches on the flap in my cheek and got some pus out and put me on augmentin antibiotic.

Great news Mandy!

Best of luck! Do get to know your mouth well, so you note any changes - and feel your neck regularly. At the first sign of a lump or bump or change in tissue - hightail it back immediately. Take care and congrats!

I agree that lymphatic massage will help the swelling. You have to get the lymph fluids moving since the nodes have been removed. Ari had the same problem and had to go into hospital to have it drained. Good thing you were put on antibiotics because Ari had an infection... Of course he waited until his neck was growing by the minute before he agreed to go to ER. Stubborn patient!!
Take care!