Anyone had neck dissection surgery? What are your tips?

@smittyfromcuse I just went through TORS and neck dissection surgery as well. My primary tumor was in my palatine tonsil, and I only had one positive lymph node, but they still removed 32 lymph nodes. I ended up with mild lymphedema and some spinal accessory nerve damage too. It’s kind of amazing how similar our experiences and outcomes have been.

Wishing you continued healing, good health, and nothing but better days ahead.

hi cris2, lilyann here, so sorry to hear this about your husband, i haven't done any target radiation and was scheduled to have it done on the 18th, but they want you to make sure you have no dental problems, well, i have loose teeth on both my lower jaw. had 3 teeth pulled, the surgeon says no radiation till he sees me again to make sure the area has healed. so i will have to cancel my radiation appt. as they wanted me to come in a week after the dental appt. back in may of 2023 i did have the high dose 164.5 - 131 radiation pills. but evidently didn't work for me. i understand the "older" situation. please let me know how things are working out. prayers are being said for you both. god bless

My husband had chemo and radiation for tonsil cancer and a few lymph nodes in neck, treatment ended five months ago. He had a biopsy and now there’s a cancerous node in neck again. He’s having surgery to remove lymph nodes next week. You can imagine how we’re feeling now to go through this. I hope this won’t be too bad on him, he’s older man, I’ve read bad and good on here.

hi @kecm, i hope it is no more than inflammation when you find out the results of your lung biopsy. which in itself is bad enough, right? inflammation is not good anywhere. which is what i think i had when i had 2 previous pet scans and when i had to go to the dentist for an infection and was given antibiotics, it was weird but the 3 rd pet scan came out stable. good. so now my neck is swollen seems like with enlarged lymph nodes and it seems like my voice is even worst than what it was which was not much more than a whisper. so seeing the oncologist this morning she wants to send me to get a ct scan, because she believe something is pressing more on what vocal chords i have left. then rx'd me the antibiotic levofloxacin, 500mg. well, to do or not to do, the terrible side effects are enough to kill you, so no thanks on that. so here i am wishing i did not say anything about anything as i really was going to say i'm fine. my bl. pressure was high which is always normal. its like buyers remorse, like why did i buy that? this is why did i open my mouth. ha ha. i have had the 2 thyroid surgeries in early 2023, radioactive iodine, taking levothyroxine. i was told in the beginning i had the aggressive papillary thyroid cancer which now i found out from the endocrinologist that i have the indifferented cells of anaplastic thyroid cancer and back 10 months ago i was given the life sentence of 6-10 months, this is the 10th month and so was even talking about doing the radiation, but, i turned that down. so she hurried up the ct. scan and i have another appt. with her next thursday, the 29th to see where we go from there. like you i did have the radical neck dissection on the right side. 11 of 19 lymph nodes were cancer. god bless all of you

Hello, I had a left neck dissection in 2022 before I had TORS surgery to remove the primary tumor in my left tonsil. Due to lymph node involvement in 2 nodes,I had 32 nodes removed. Today I still have lymphedema but consider it mild and treat it with self massage and a compression garment. The surgery did damage my accessory nerve but through physical therapy I have regained 90% of my pre surgery function. Im concerned with the long term effects of the accompanying radiation treatment such as fibrosis, carotid stenosis and dental issues but taking it day by day. Im
grateful to be alive and choose to dwell on the positive aspects of life and do my best to live as normally as possible. I do have first bite syndrome that occasionally happens but not an everyday occurrence. When I get down or start feeling sorry for myself because I’m not the same as before cancer I remind myself I’m alive when others with the same cancer are not and I need to embrace life. I hope this helps.

Hi there. I had a modified radical neck dissection years ago. All lymph nodes removed on left side. Just prior to surgery I had an accessory nerve repair, damaged while removing a simple non malignant lump (fat). This is how they discovered my thyroid cancer. I would imagine you will have physio and home exercises. After all this time, if I skip a day with my exercises I’ll be very stiff. Questions to ask: were they able to save your accessory nerve? It the supply for largest upper body muscle, the trapezius and can cause a lot of problems because there is lack of muscle support, lifting, reaching etc.
Best of luck. You are very early and I’m sure you are in good hands. 💕

Hello @toddrap. That must have been a massive surgery. It sounds like you are healing well. Was your melanoma on your head or neck? Your question sounds like a valid one for your surgeon. Have they suggested any physical therapy for you? I wonder how much the lymphatic drainage will be maintained by the normal side of your neck? My neck dissection involved fewer nodes and the superficial parotid gland and I have only a dry mouth to deal with 12 years later.

Hi,
I was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in two lymph nodes in March and had the radical neck dissection where they removed all 42 lymph nodes, areas 1-5, nothing else, on July 3, 2024.
Still recovering, my right shoulder has been compromised BIG TIME , neck is tight and the swelling is almost gone. I am grateful they got all what they were looking for and that at this moment I have no cancer.

Now I wonder how my body will respond in the long term, living without the 42 nodes ?

I had a neck dissection for removal of a squamous cell cancer of the parotid this year. Now undergoing proton beam therapy to the area. I realize that proton beam therapy is relatively new, but does anyone have experience regarding the long-term consequences of proton beam therapy? Are they different than the long term effects of X-ray or photon beam therapy?

My mother has a neck bisection? In 1989 with MD Anderson in Houston and she’s 83 . As someone earlier said MD Anderson.