Hi to all,

My husband had a left neck dissection on June 11th, the doctor said that he had to remove his jugular veine because it has been damaged from the lymphnod (reccurent) and radiation. Any way, it has been two months and my husband still experiences an awful pain that he describes like a big needle shot on his neck. He is on pain medication ( darvocet 100) that he takes two pills every 4 hours. I noticed also that his left collar bone is pushed forward and looks like misplaced compared to the one on his right side. I don't know if a muscle has been removed as the doctor is very vague concerning details.
I feel like something is wrong, does the pain last that long? And is darvocet the right medecine in this case. The bottle does not last long. My husband is very frustrated, lost a lot of weight.

Do people that had before neck dissection, experience so much pain? If so, for how long?

Thank you all for any answer.
God bless you.

Hello to you! I don't know about the pain your husband is experiencing in relation to the jugular, but as you know a lot of rumaging around was done in there. Nerves get damaged, scar tissue forms, etc. As far as his collar bone is concerned, that has to do with the fact that when a neck dissection is done, the main nerve is severed that controls the muscle just behind the top of the shoulder & just above the shoulder blade, called the trap muscle. I can't remember the full name. This has been well documented & I even read this was known about as far back as 100 years ago. Unfortunately, that muscle is permanently paralyzed as a result. I have been going through physical therapy for about a month strengthening all the other muscles around that area & have seen amazing results. My shoulder isn't rotated & tipped forward like it use to be & my posture is almost normal. Certain side arm lifting motions are still a little restricted but not a big issue at all. I think that with continued therapy I will gain even more strength & motion. The ultimate human trait we all posess is the ability to adapt, overcome & improve our situation if we choose. I did lose almost 50 lbs & have not gained very much back, but from the pt my muscle tone is improving weekly & my wife kinda likes the new me! Get your doc to give your husband a refferal to a good physical therapist & go to work. He/she should do deep & shallow tissue massage of all affected areas; neck, shoulder, back, arm, throat, jaw, face, etc. Also, is your husband stretching? Things get pretty bound up in there from the healing & non-use. I'm no expert, but thats been my experience this year. Hope it helps. My best to you guys!

S paull, I had the neck dissection in feb of this year. I too have the pain in my shoulder and neck. My neck is still tight but I have been doing execises with it to try to losen it up. I think this is normal after this type of surgery to fell what we are feeling. Best of luck with your husband and to you as well. We all have a ton of work to do. Always Miss Vicki

Hi S Paull... I, too, had a neck dissection on the left side. They removed my jugular, plus a muscle that connects neck and shoulder, plus nerves, etc.

I agree wholeheartedly with Erik K above. Get your husband a referral for physical therapy ASAP. My ENT kind of blew this part off, and in the weeks that followed my surgery my left shoulder got worse and worse. I kept "guarding" it, rather than stretching it, and that just made it worse. When I finally went to see a PT, I could barely move it at all. It was just a dead limb.

In about three-four weeks time, though, I have seen a remarkable turnaround. My PT massages my neck and shoulder, stretches it out, then has me do basic range of motion exercises. The pain is much more bearable (no pain meds at all now for a couple of weeks), and I imagine we'll move to more strengthening exercises over the coming weeks...

Get thee to a PT!! It is well worth it on the road to recovery...

Thanks Eric, Miss Vicki and Aztarheel for your advice. I tried to have my husband go to a PT but unfortunately his job keeps away from home and requires him to go all over the places in two to three state each week. He is repairing communication towers, his work though since the surgery is on the ground.
AzTarheel, did you have to take pain pills every day for pain since your surgey until couple weeks ago? My husband takes two every four hours, and night two sleeping pills.
It is the uncertain future that makes my husband depressed and it hurts his job. Will he have to live with the pain?
I am going to send him your posts, I am sure it will bring some answers to his questions.
Thanks again.

Hello s.paull

Your husbands symptoms sound very much like mine. The tumours I had in my neck permanently damaged the main accessory nerve to my shoulder resulting in major nerve pain and a 'dropped' shoulder. This is called a 'palsy' in medical jargon. The shoulder looks lower than the other and falls forward. I still experience pain and require drugs to control it, although I am now tumour-free . The soreness etc I felt from the neck dissection was quite different to the ongoing shoulder pain.

It would be tough for your husband to work with that kind of pain. From Helen, with love