I have stage 1 oropharyngeal cancer and am just through with 30 IMRT treatments as of july 5th. I go back to my ENT Aug. 30th for another petscan and a checkup. The lymphnode did not go away and have a neck dissection scheduled for Sept. 16th. The doctors took out my tonsils first to find the primary but that came back negative. A petscan turned up the primary below where the tonsils were but just above the epiglottis. I was 40 when diagnosed and have three great kids and a wonderful wife. I am somewhat worried about the dissection and of course recurrence. I have never had surgery before the tonsils. would like to know what to expect after the neck dissection. sorry for the rambling but this is my first time in a chat room of any kind.

Hello MG, Welcome to our little world. I too was 40 when diagnosed, with three great kids and a wonderful wife so I guess we have several things in common. There are many here that have had the neck dissection and it is an operation that sounds worse than it is. Many of us were out of the hospital in 3 days some 4 or 5 days. Pain is usually not severe in fact the tonsillectomy was far worse for me than the dissection. If you can ask your surgeon if he/she plans to do a "modified" radical neck dissection, you will experience less long-term side effects if they leave the accessory nerve intact. Do not fear rambling, we do it all the time.

Take care

Hi, MG, just wanted to add a note that my husband had a bilateral neck dissection [during his tumor removal surgery]. The drain to help control swelling was the only thing that really bugged him, as he d oesn't like being "hooked" to anything. His incision was closed with staples, and 1\2 were removed before he left the hospital. There was alot of swelling in his neck for a few weeks at home and some minor irritation at the incision, but we used lots of Aquaphor. We bought a good electric razor, which helped with sensitive area shaving.The rest of his staples were removed in a couple of weeks. The dissection did not interfere with eating. At the present time,almost 4 mo's after surgery, John's incision area is very hard, maybe numb[he can't tell] itchy because of stray hairs that are hard to see and shave, BUT not a major problem. In our experience, rad. tx's were much worse than the neck dissection. I think You will be O.K. Amy

Hi MG,
I was 41 when diagnosed and am now 2 1/2 years out from my neck dissection. While my neck on that side is tighter and I lost some range of motion, I have full use of my shoulder and arm. The surgery I had was easy compared to the radition. Good luck with it.
Minnie

Wow! I am so proud and happy for you that you are finished with the radiation. My father is 4 weeks into it with 15 more treatments to go. This site is awesome, I encourage frequent visits. From what I've heard, the dissection is a piece of cake.

Hello MG,

Use the search engine at the top of the page for neck dissections. There are as best I know three different kinds of them.
I had the reguler one where they split me from the bottom of my lower lip down to my adams apple and across to right below my right ear.
There was very little pain with it and it heals quite fast. I hope this is true in your case.

As far as being worried about a recurrence I would concentrare on getting rid of the first one. It is a most unforgiving diaease. It can be a rocky road but many of us have traveled it and survived. You can to!!!

The more knowledge you have about your diaease the better prepared you will be for any side effects from treatment. You can ask any question you can think of and someone will reply with similer treatment.
You are now part of one huge international cyber family going thru basically the same thing. (Oral Cancer)
I see from your posting that you are member number 2310. I joined a little over two years ago and am number 853. We continue to grow which allows us to help more people and hopefully get the word out, "Early Detection Saves Lifes"

Welcome again, Danny Boy

Danny has a point ... actually there are two search engines that would give you lots of information. The one in the main site will take you to a page that talks about the different types of neck dissections, and the one on the message board here that will take you to all the previous question about neck dissections. Of course posting your question will also yield help from those that have comments, but a review of what's available is always a good starting point.

thanks for all your help, advice and support. Ifeel much better about things and am ready to get this next stage done. I have a petscan scheduled for the 30th and my surgery for sept 16th. Ijust found out a good friend of mine,60 years old, has mantle lymphoma in his neck nodes and will undergo chemo and other treatments starting next week. i have been able to support him and that makes me feel better,like this happened for a reason. I am going to give him this website as well

Hi All,

The neck disection is not as bad as it sounds. I had little pain and the suction devises did not bother me. I had no staples as they glued me up totaly.

For all that have had the disection or are comtemplating same, consider PT. I am currently having physical therapy for the shoulder and scar area. I good PT will do wonders for scar tissue, muscle strenght, and shoulder mobility after surgery. I highly recommend PT if your ENT or other MD will prescribe. I have certainly benefitted.

Steve

No answer or advice. I just wanted to wish you the very best and let you know you have a large cheering section via this website. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Tonya

I've had two neck dissections 4 years apart and they are the easy part of the treatment. Just make certain your surgeon is a good plastic surgeon. I had stitches and only one clamp. Ask that they not remove your saliva glands unless absolutely necessary. And yes PT is a must to help reduce scarring, increase strength and mobility.

Take care,
Eileen