Amy' everyone is different and so is the approach of their doctors, I had 33 IMRT treatments and 3 chemo treatments and then I had a radical neck dissection where 22 lymph nodes were removed with one having cancer. That was always the plan of order with my doctors, they did not decide to have a neck dissection after radiation. The dissection was always part of my treatment. That may be because I had no symptoms at all other than a swollen gland (lymph node) that would not go away. This I had for about a month.
lenny