Hi everyone,

Mary heard this morning that the lymph node removed still had "living cancer cells present" and the modified radical neck dissection will have to be done. Not a complete surprise, but disappointing nonetheless! How the hell does something survive after all that treatment?????
This surgery scares the hell out of my friend, and despite all the reassurance I can give she still thinks she is going to look "freakish". She thinks the right side of her neck is going to "cave in". She says "I know this is no time for vanity, but how much should I have to take?"
I know so many of you out there have had this surgery. If I could pass on a few words of reassurance and encouragement from those who have actually done this I think it would give her some comfort. I will print out your responses and let her read them. I SO want her to have this surgery (which she is threatening to not go through with) so that she can have the best possible chance of a cure.
If only I could have pulled Jeff out of cyberspace, maybe I could have convinced her to have the modifies RND in the first place-but she is a tough cookie to convince.
Also of some concern is "some uptake in the colon" on the last PET scan-we were not told of this last week during the pre-op visit. Now the docs want a colonoscopy done. Well, one step at a time.

Oh, how I had hoped my friend would luck out on this one. Damn!

Liz