Hello folks, Eric here...

Just wondering what people's experiences have been with an "excision" biopsy -- i.e. where they take a whole lymph node out and check it for cancer. I am scheduled to have one tomorrow afternoon in Flagstaff.

A few weeks ago something "suspicious" showed up on a PET scan and MRI in a lymph node in my neck (on the same side as my original tongue cancer). A needle biopsy came back negative for cancer (good news indeed) but my doctor didn't feel he had enough evidence to pronounce this a total "false positive."

I, of course, am fine with his proactive approach, but am curious to know how a post-radiated neck will react to this type of procedure. I have not had the neck dissection done (yet), just surgery on my tongue, followed by 30 IMRT treatments (which apparently did NOT cover this node in question for some reason)...

As you can imagine, I'm nervous as heck. I'm either going to wake up after a short nap tomorrow with the news that no cancer could be found (off the hook for awhile longer). Or I'm going to wake up after a long nap the proud new owner of a radical neck dissection. It's pretty weird being in this limbo. Overall, my body feels fine, though my neck is still stiff and sore (and tender from the needle biopsy -- they took three samples, digging deep on that last one)...

I can't say as much for my nerves, which have been through the ringer the past few weeks (see my post "PET Scan tomorrow" under After Treatment Issues for the play-by-play)... Some nights I sleep like a baby. Others I'm up all night, tossing and turning (and thinking WAY too much)...

Well, thanks for letting me "extrovert" a bit. My wife laughs at me that I have to always talk things out. It helps soothe the nerves... My prayers continue to remain with all of you who are fighting such courageous battles... Thanks for your inspiration...

Eric