Hi Amy,

I have heard there are dozens of nodes. You may experience some fluid retention, but it should go away. Some of the swelling could be due to age. I'm 58, and it took a while before all my swelling went away. they also took a lot of tissue from my neck. I would call the surgeons PA and ask the questions.

Steve

SCC, base of tongue, 2 lymph nodes, stage 3/4. 35 X's IMRT radiation, chemo: Cisplatin x 2, 5FU x2, & Taxol x2. Hooray, after 3 years I'm in still in remission.