Glad to be of help when I can. It is a pretty simple procedure for them to do a fine needle biopsy of the node in question. A few needle insertions in a variety of areas in the node should give them representative samples of cells that can then be looked at by a pathologist. If something is still there, you will know in 3 days. My surgeon decided not to take any chances, and just went in and did the modified radical neck dissection and took them all. I had multiple positive nodes before radiation bilaterally. They still showed up on the post radiation CT scans. The pathology report on all the removed nodes was negative, but I don't regret his being extra sure by putting me through the surgery. This example is a good demonstration that scans cannot detect cancer. Surgery was the easiest part of the treatment overall, a cakewalk compared to the 8 months after radiation.

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.