Hi was just wondering if anyone could answer a few question , when I was 17 I was diagnosed with muco epidermoid carcinoma in the right side of my cheek , so I have had a few painful operations there done inside my mouth , however I am now 20 and just had a lymp node excisional biopsy due to the being swollen and the previous cancer wasn't fully gone and had spread to my lymp nodes and slowly grown again , anyway I'm due to go in hospital on the 18th of this month for a neck dissection so far all I know is he is removing all the nodes in the right side of my neck , gonna be told more about what type of dissection it is when I go for my pre op , and I was just wondering what pain will be like and after care and is swallowing a problem at all ad the incision will go across the throat and also what are the drains like , I know I have to have them in but they sound really horrible. Anyone got any info. Would be great ? Thanks [font:Arial][/font]

My husband just had a neck dissection & BOT lesion removed at same time. To be honest, the neck dissection didn't bother him at all. It looked a bit gruesome but has healed nicely. Any issues he had with swallowing, pain, etc stemmed from lesion removal. And even that was not nearly as bad as we thought it might be. He was back to work a week after surgery. He did say just last night that he keeps thinking his collared shirt is buttoned when it's not as he has some tightness & numbness on neck but that is it & he is only 3 weeks out of surgery. Crossing our fingers that he does as well with the radiation!!

Good luck to you!

Oh, & the drains....he had just one as dissection was on right side of his neck & didn't bother him a bit. Even when they took it out after 2 days he didn't even flinch & said it was nothing. Hope this helps ease ur mind somewhat!

I had three neck dissections all in the left neck, two were radical, RND, one Selectine neck dissection, SND. For me, they were the easiest part of treatment, but it's a sensitive area for many functions, so you need a good ENT, prefably at a CCC, that has a multidisplinsary team other doctors, there was minimal pain, and while in the recovery room was given morphine, I never turn down lol, and oxycodene there after. There will be swelling, and a drain in the higher clavicle area for the blood and Lympth fluid into a Drsinage bulb. Once it starts filing 1/3 or less you are released, and my stay was overnight, in their step-done room, similar to ICU for HNC. I ate McDonald's Big Mac, fries, coke, while I was driven hond which when I got home lol, which didn't sit well with me or Cheryl here lol, who is a vegetarian. The stitches were taken out maybe the 18th due to having prior radiation, which causes wounds in the radiated are longer too heal. The selective neck dissection, two lymphs, which turned out to be free or rising cancer was day surgery, again McDonalds lol. My 3rd was a little more complicated, with a RND, radiation during surgery, IORT , Pec flap, this time I had two drains, one in neck, and one in pectoral, and was in the hospital 3 days. I recovered pretty well. And sir doctors are amazed I had three neck dissection, 3 radiation treatments, chemo, and wouldn't know by looking at me. I do have swelling, which is going away slight, a leather neck, and turkey neck, which I can live with if that's all.

I'm not sure where the lymph drainage goes four your cancer but for oropharyngeal it' level ll-lV or with radical, levels ll-V. Some HNC cancers need levels l-Vl Lymphs removed, depending on likely drainage, but there can be skip metastases. There is like 300 lymphs, HN, most microscopic and in a chain. even after my RND, further another ND, they removed 5 lymphs in the same area. Some get a T chit, liken mime or a hockey puck, others as well.

Hi Gemma, I had a bilateral neck dissection to remove nodes on both sides. I actually had no pain, as they cut through nerves and my neck was entirely numb. The only discomfort was that there is a fair amount of swelling, and internally it feels very tight. Only now (8 months post surgery) am I feeling any pain, which is more of an ache than pain, as the regeneration is working its way along.

The drains are minor (I had 4 drains in total). They sound gross and the fluid looks a bit creepy, but I didn't feel a thing.

I was able to swallow as soon as they took the trach tube out (I had a partially glossectomy with reconstruction), although little bits at a time, which increased quickly. Hard to say how much was tongue issue vs. neck.

Good luck.

Hi Gemma,

I had a selective neck dissection. They removed two cancerous lymph nodes and 24 additional nodes on the left side of my neck. However, I had my lingual tonsils taken at that time along with several biopsies so it made for a rather painful aftermath.

The incision was made in a neck crease and while it looked pretty nasty immediately after surgery, you can't even tell now. However, my left shoulder was compromised due to nerve damage as tumors were intertwined with the nerves, muscles and blood vessels of my neck. You can see the difference in my shoulder from the left to the right side as the left looks atrophied. The drain tube was a little weird and it hurt a bit getting it pulled out but the discomfort was short lived.

Good luck! Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

Hi Gemma,

I just had a BOT tumor removed along with a right neck dissection. The neck really gave me no problems at all. Just a little tight with some limited movement at first because of that but it's only been 2 weeks now and the scars have healed very nicely and as I have quite a few freckles you can barely notice them. I would honestly have another neck dissection without hesitation if needed on my left side... the BOT surgery however was another surgery. Don't want to go through another one of them.

Good luck,
Melissa.

Thanks for all the replies everyone , they really helped and have reassured me so thanks for taking the time to answer

Gemma, thinking of you today and tomorrow. I'm sure you'll come through it well. We're all here for you.

Hugs and prayers to you!