Hi landa,

Sorry to hear about what your husband and you are going through. It's a pretty rough time. I had 79 nodes removed in August 2019 at the same time as having my tongue removed (I have a 'sliver' left). I noticed around 2 weeks after my surgery that my right shoulder had dropped. I didn't get it seen to as I wanted to get through rads first before concentrating on fixing something else, so I didn't get seen by the physio until Jan 2020.

As the muscles were cut during surgery, the muscles stopped supporting my shoulder, which is why it dropped. I had quite a slant going on. I couldn't raise my arm to wash or brush my hair. I couldn't sleep on it at all. Lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup was a nightmare. Annoyingly it was the opposite arm to where the flap was taken, so it was a nightmare to get dressed and do things around the house.

However, physio helped really well. My shoulder is back in it's place and I've regained strength. I'm allowed to lift up to 1.5kg in the gym, which is great, and I can sleep soundly. So it's not bad at all. Get your husband to ask questions about post-surgery physio for his shoulder, so that they can formulate a plan and he get going, once he's been cleared to do so. I can also turn my neck well enough to drive safely. I have some think scar tissue that has built up causing a bit of an issue with tilting my head up (the skin feels tight) but I'm having regular massages by the physio and I've been shown what to do every day.

Keeping active is great, so maybe your husband can set up a dynamo to cycle indoors, for days when he wants to stretch his legs but hasn't the energy to cycle for too long. Keeping active throughout all of the treatments does help with healing, as does keeping up with calorie intake, lots of protein and plenty of water/hydration.