Kelley,
I will attempt to give you some possible answers to your symptoms.
As I understand your post you have and/or are experiencing; chest pains...relieved by prilosec; left side ear, neck, jaw, shoulder and throat pain as well as tingling in your left thumb and forefinger; PND; clear CT scan and some similar but not as serious right side problems.
Neck dissections can lead to multiple post operative problems. One of the reasons is that the nervous supply for the neck shoulder and arm arise starting from the fifth cervical vertebrae and is often disrupted and/or involved in the surgery. Radiation causes stenosus of the tissues reducing their regenerative capacities and function. Nerve and vascular bundles become less pliable and can be impinged upon by the surgery and scar tissue formation.
Here is a link that describes this nerve bundle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachial_plexus This bundle of nerves as well as the neck and shoulder muscles undergo a lot of trauma from the surgery and the radiation leads to siffness and lack of mobility. Add to this scar formation within the muscle and other tissues, reduced lymphatic drainage to remove waste products and toxins, nerve impingement and diminished muscle function/impairment pain is bound to arise.
There may not be an all encompassing solution to eliminate all of the problems. Some things I would suggest to you are;
1. Talk to your doctors about seeing a physiotherapist and massage therapist who knows her lymph drainage pathways..
2. Try and stretch gently, without causing further pain, your neck, shoulder and arm muscles as much as you can. (the physiotherapist can give you some simple basic routines).
3. Keep hydrated, drink lots of water. This helps keep all tissues functioning at their best.
4. Have an ENT evaluate your PND.
5. Have a dentist who is competant in Temporal Mandibular Joint Disfunction (TMD) and Myofacial Pain Disorder Syndrome (MPDS) evaluate your jaws.
6. Possibly a referral to an Orthopeadic surgeon to evaluate your arm and shoulder function and pain. They may be able to offer suggestions to relieve your pain and will definatly be able to determine whether nerve impingement is causing your shoulder pain and finger numbness.
I hope some or this is usefull to you.
Cheers,
Mike
