Hi Lisa, my husband was 55 and had the lymph nodes in levels 1 thru 5 removed. He's completed rehab for his shoulder and that function is good, he does still have lymphedema which is not a big deal.

PET scans 2 months post treatment will give false positives. There's a lot of information on that if you search this forum.

At times you need to just go with it - I would have the surgery.

Regards JoAnne

Lisa B, my husband was 62 when he had the 1st neck dissection[ all nodes were reported clear that time] and 63 when he had the 2nd one[ cancer in nodes this time] Neither dissection caused great pain, mostly some swelling and drainage to deal with. Amy

Amy was your husbands second dissection on the opposite neck?

Thanks

Hi --

I wanted to add a different perspective --neck dissections are not done routinely at some of the top CCCs now -- because some recent studies have shown a modest improvement in local control but no long-term survival advantage. Our MO (at Hopkins) says at that institution it is "controversial" -- and Sloan-Kettering bluntly told us they don't do them.

Hopkins uses fused PET/CT scans (much more accurate than PET or CT alone) at 3 months -- and again at 6 -- along with physical exams to determine response to treatment, and an increasing number of patients who show a complete clinical response are declining ND. I should add, however, that these scans are read by an expert who's seen 100's and 100's of HNC PET/CT scans and who can usually tell what's inflammation ans scarring and what's not -- whereas someone without this experience may only end up causing anxiety as they report lots of "uncertainty" and not help the situation (or your peace of mind) at all.

Neither my husband's MO, RO nor his ENT surgeon recommended a ND for him though the Hopkins surgeon (not his ENT but on his team) would probably have done one. He repeated what our RO said, about 5-10% improvement in local control. There are potential long-term problems associated with ND if not done by a surgeon with experience, you need to ask about what these could be and how they will ameliorate these issues. Ask how many NDs your surgeon has done and how well patients have done.

Many people report, as have the posters above, that the ND was the least of their problems in treatment. However all surgery involves risk, thus potential benefits and risks should be considered carefully.

Gail

Well my Dad's PET came back showing NO cancer.

He's going to ask for another CT (it's now 12 weeks since he treatment finished; first CT and MRI were done at weeks 7 and 8).

Thanks for the info folks!
If you have any more comments please post or email me. (Guess I should post over on the other board for meds; treatment,and procedures).