Hi everyone,

Back on the rollercoaster again!
Mary is 8 weeks out from radiation treatments and had her PET scan and CT Scan last week. Pet Scan clear. CT scan remains abnormal and node remains palpable.
Saw the surgeon and the team recommended a modified radical neck.
Then the surgeon stated that because the PET scan was clear he would be comfortable just removing the node at this time and thoroughly checking it for any remaining cancer-saying that 80% of the time there will not be any. If it is negative then that would be the end of surgery and they would continue with very close monitoring. However, if you go this route you do so with the understanding that some cancer could be missed if any remains close to the initially affected lymph node.
If the node is positive then, of course, you would proceed with a modified radical neck ASAP-at a later date-so 2 separate surgeries.
According to the docs, there is a move to get away from the neck dissection if at all possibe (makes sense). But a tough decision to be faced with when the "standard of care" is a modified RND if there is any palpable mass left after chemo/RAD.

Any thoughts??????

Liz