Here is the newest update, and I would totally appreciate any response on this matter. mom is scheduled for surgery on fri @ 7am. they say it should be 8-10 hours. they are also saying that there is a swollen lymph on the right side, so they are cutting both sides, they are also putting in a tracheotomy ??? is this normal? and they are moving some muscle tissue from the breast area to the damaged area of the neck for muscle mass and blood vessels. sounds much more complicated then we thought. they have also said that according to the scans, they do not think it has spread, but once they get in, if they feel they cannot remove the tumor site, they will close her and send her home? this is very disturbing to hear. i know many of you have had the neck dissection. does any of this sound familiar? thanks so much jamie