Sharon and Joe,

I had a selective neck dissection about ten weeks after completion of Rad treatment. At that point I was already back to work part time, and I only took a week off for the surgery. (I wasn't going to work with a drain hose in my neck.) All things considered, the surgery was the least bothersome part of all the treatments. This will be much easier to deal with than the tonsillectomy.

I lost some range of motion in my shoulder, and the muscles atrophied, but after about a year I returned to full strength.
Like Lenny, this was my team's plan going in, so there were no surprises. My surgery covered several areas. They did a biopsy of the tonsil area (my Primary), and a pathologist was present in the OR to freeze, stain and analyze the tissue. When that came up clean, they did the neck dissection, removed my chemo port, and scoped everything (esophagus, trachea, lungs, stomach)looking for anything suspicious. It was pretty much one stop shopping.

I have to say that I gained a great deal of peace of mind when the pathology reports showed no cancer detected in any of the lymph nodes removed, so, while the neck disssection may not have been "necessary", there were certainly benefits gained.

Enjoy your vacation!

Good Health,

Chuck