When the plastic surgeon did the pech flap on the right side of my chest it looks like I have a lump just below my neck on the right side. This is sensitive to touch and sticks out a couple of inches. They told me later on I could have this
cut down (shaved thinner) so it wasn't as noticable. Is this a common fix for this rather large lump? My right arm is rather restricted in movement and I'm wondering if I should be stretching this out to regain the movement in my arm. If i'm asking dumb questions please excuse me as this is all new to me. My goal is to get back as much mobility as I can. Dan

Daniel

Don't know for sure about shaving down the lump, but am interested myself. Last time around with the neck dissection the surgeon got in a hurry I guess and didn't do too neat a job with the staples and left a strange looking lump on my neck where the incision was. Probably looking at corrective cosmetic surgery for that later down the road myself.

As far as stretching, may want to start out with some gentle stretching excersizes to keep the range of movement going. You're going to be sore for quite a while, but it does get better. First surgery was in late August last year and in the process of getting the skin for the tongue graft surgeon managed to cut the Trapezious (sp?) nerve so lost a lot of movement. But, by the following March I was swinging a golf club with gusto, and by now most of the range of motion on that shoulder has come back. Still can't do the "arms out" for airport security though, gonna be a real pain on my next trip back to the states.

Hope the info helps
Bob