Welcome to the site. It is a great place to vent and gather information. If you go to the home page and look under people/patient stories/Larry and read through the first occurance you will see pictures of Larry with a neck dissection. It actually looks worse than it is and outwardly heals pretty quick. The roughest part for me was loss of sensation, hyper sensitivity, and then a period of normalcy repeated over and over. It was like a series of waves hitting the beach where the effects gradually reduce over time. It was more irritating than painful.

The toughest parts about the time period when you first learn you have cancer is the waiting and the lack of information. Don't be afraid to ask any questions of anybody, whether it is your doctor, dentist, or this forum. My biggest complaint is the doctors assume you know what is going on. I don't know what happened with everybody else but my mind shut down both times I was told I have cancer. The only question I had was Why Me? After the initial shock wears off the real questions begin. Keep a pen and papaer handy for writeing them down.

Keep everybody informed of what you treatment plan is and how you are getting along. Good luck.