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Modified radical neck dissection: What's your experience?
Thyroid Cancer | Last Active: Sep 24, 2023 | Replies (22)Comment receiving replies
I had a total Thyroidectomy done back in September 2005 due to cancer. I had one RAI treatment. I've been on synthroid ever since. I go to my endocrinologist faithfully. Recently I found a lump on the right side of my neck. I went to my new endocrinologist who told me not to worry about it and that it will go away in a few weeks. The very next day I had an appointment with my primary care doctor for a different issue. When I mentioned the lump on my neck they sent me for a scan immediately. It was then recommended that I see a surgeon and get the lump biopsied. The biopsy came back - METASTATIC PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA. POSITIVE FOR MALIGNANT CELLS. Obviously, not what i wanted to hear. Then met with surgeon who said the cancer was in the lymph nodes on the right side of my neck. At this time, the rest of the neck appeared fine. So, I'm scheduled for a modified neck dissection on the right to remove the malignant lymph nodes. I'm curious to know what others who have gone through this prepared for the surgery, how they did after the surgery, and what can I do to hopefully make the entire experience less traumatic.
Replies to "I had a total Thyroidectomy done back in September 2005 due to cancer. I had one..."
I’ve had three modified radical neck dissections.
The first surgery was done with a second surgeon directly after my TT. Recovering was a challenge. I had a few weeks of draining and had to sleep sitting-up. It took a long time for inflammation to come down and it took and about a year to recover nerve damage. Also, I did physical therapy for shoulder pain. The next two neck dissections were relatively easy compared to the first with much shorter recovery times.
Hugs for a good outcome!
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Hi.
I am sorry to hear you are going through this. I just had a neck dissection a few weeks ago. I also had my thyroid removed (6 years ago) but an ultra sound in the spring showed enlarged lymph nodes that turned out to be malignant.
There is pretty accurate information when you Google it, but I will give you some info about my experience. I had a lateral and central neck dissection. Initially it was supposed to just be a left lateral dissection but after the pre op CT scan they realized that the central lymph nodes were malignant as well. My incision starts about two inches under my ear and goes down and around to the front of my neck (pretty much where my scar was from having two hemithyroidectomies). There was definitely discomfort in the first ten days, but not enough for me to use any pain medication (including OTC like Tylenol). Now three and a half weeks out I still have areas of tenderness but nothing that impacts my day to day activities. The incision is healing well. I am in my early 50s. I think by the time it is fully healed it will look more like a wrinkle/sag in my neck skin.
There are rare complications that you can read about (shoulder, lip, tongue). I did not have any of those. Some lymph nodes had attached to my recurrent laryngeal nerve. The surgeon tested that the signals were traveling through my nerves throughout the surgery, so the nerve isn’t damaged, but due to being manipulated, it needs time to recover. The consequence of that is the paralysis of my left vocal cord. I currently have a very hoarse , breathy voice. Sometimes I cough and choke on drinks, but not often. There is an injection that plumps up the vocal cord so it stays closed so you can talk and eat comfortably. It wears off in about a year which is about the time the healing should happen. I will be getting the injection in 10 days. I could have had it sooner but I am having some more testing done and I wanted to get that done first.
All in all I had 32 lymph nodes removed (8 were malignant).
I hope that information helps. I wish you the best in your recovery!