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Anyone had a total radical neck dissection?
Thyroid Cancer | Last Active: Jun 29 4:04pm | Replies (15)Comment receiving replies
I had surgery on January 13, 2023. I am 4 weeks out today. It has been a very difficult recovery so far. I had a parotidectomy, left and right neck dissection and a retropharyngeal dissection. I am dealing with being unable to swallow anything other than soft foods and feeling of having a golf ball stuck in my throat. I have quite a bit of nerve damage on the left … droopy left eye, lower left lip and arm and shoulder issues as well as lymphedema. I am doing physical therapy for that starting next week. I am scheduled for a swallow test Wednesday and will likely do swallow therapy. I’m hoping it will help. Eating has become a chore and there is no pleasure in it. And I have noticed that food doesn’t taste the same either.
If I could offer any advice, it would be to learn all you can from others who have been in the situation. And make sure you are informed of all the things that can happen later on as well as making sure you have a good surgeon…and always ask questions! You have to be your own advocate.
The surgeon had to cut the muscle that helps you swallow in order to get to the mass and pathology showed extensive cancer into the soft tissues.
I would love to hear from anyone here who has experienced the same issues. They have recommended 6 weeks of radiation treatments, 5 days a week. The side effects are daunting. Especially since I will have radiation to the entire neck, lower jaw area and base of my throat where there is already a build up of scar tissue. He mentioned I may end up on a feeding tube… I have a few weeks to decide if I am going to do the treatment.
Any words of wisdom from others who have been here?
Thanks in advance!
Replies to "I had surgery on January 13, 2023. I am 4 weeks out today. It has been..."
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hi tcsurvivor4, jan. 31, 2023 i had my surgery, couldn't save the right vocal chord, full of cancer. the cancer attached itself to the jugular, thorax and other areas and they had to cut around all of those organs to get it out. the pathology report is suppose to be ready in 10 days. they said the nodule was the size of an orange. i can breathe, thank god. all of my back and neck hurts all the way up to the top of my head. thing is, i am having a hard time talking and when i do its then i want to start coughing. i do drink alot of water and i get up alot during the nite, so again, i am wetting the one and only vocal chord. i said the very same thing trying to eat some oatmeal this morning, it is getting tiresome, i went on another site to see who else is complaining and rightfully so, and actually learned that to lean forward and bend your neck to your chest to swallow. well, good, it sure did help. sometimes you have to go further out of the box to see how some others are handling their situations. my biggest problem now and before the surgery was the coughing, bad enough before surgery, but, afterwards, scary because of tearing sutures and have always heard it was hard on the heart to be coughing so much. i am very tired and have been pushing myself to do this and that which they said i could do everything i done before the surgery, eat whatever i wanted, work around the house. of course, the lifting thing is a no-no after any surgery. i should feel better in a few days, no, its not the way its been going. so i will see the operating crew on the 16 th of feb. so i wish each and everyone of you a better day tomorrow. prayers for all of you as i think all of you are so much braver than i. god bless