surgery to lymph glands in neck

Hi Daisy 11

I and many of us on this forum have had a neck dissection.

I had mine done at the same time as I had a tumour removed from the base of my tongue and the entire procedure took several  hours.  I think the removal of lymph nodes will take about 3 hours but I'm not absolutely certain.

As far as tips for recovery are concerned I would say the most important one would be to ensure your husband is referred to a good physio who will show him the relevant exercises to help keep his neck mobile.

I do hope your husband is recovering from his treatment and wish you both all good wishes.

Linda 

Thank you Linda. I hadn't thought about physio but we do know a great one so will get in touch with her.

Thank you for your good wishes and your response

Lisa

You should have a speech therapist that will help you with exercise, also I think you will not have any trouble apart from fluid retention that you can just massage down, I had mine done with the operation and it was around 10 hours for the lot so no idea for just the neck, he will probably have drains, I had three but that was both sides for about 10 days to two weeks, can't remember it all as everything was a blur. I hope it all goes well.

Hello Daisy , im very much like Linda where i had some of mine removed when i had a neck dissection so i would also say about 3 hours. Recovery time will depend on how the surgery went and what they removed . I would say three months would be a guide on the recovery time as the body will have to adjust to the new changes , Ron also made some good points about possibility of swelling . If i remember rightly i did not really have any problems with the removal of the lymph nodes and the area healed up well. Hopefully your husband will have a straight forward operation with a hassle free recovery . Best wishes .

                                                                           Chris x

There are various types of dissection Daisy; radical, modified radical, selective and extended so the length of the op and the recovery periods/side effects will vary accordingly. Mine was a modified radical which took around five hours I think.

Is this your husbands only treatment or does he have anything more to come? Much good advice above and physio is vital, particularly if the surgery is "radical" and he has to have his accessory nerve removed. Below is a copy/paste from Cancer Research to save me typing it all out. Good luck to you both.

"The accessory nerve controls the shoulder movement. So if your surgeon removes it, your shoulder becomes stiffer and more difficult to move.

After a modified or selective neck dissection, the weakness in your arm usually lasts only a few months. But with a radical neck dissection, the damage can be permanent.

Your doctor will refer you to a physiotherapist. They can give you some exercises to help to improve the movement in your neck and shoulder. It is important that you do these exercises regularly.

Some people continue to have problems with pain and movement a year after surgery. Your doctor might suggest a further operation to reconstruct some of the muscles to help this. But this isn't suitable for everyone."

Hi again, hope hubby is ok, and starting to recover! 

My hubby had a radical neck dissection on 17th Jan. His op took six hours, as he had a LOT of cancer in the nodes. He lost his accessory nerve and most muscle, and has been left with a wonky lip and a mouth that doesn't fully open. He had physio and speech and language therapy on the ward. He was in for six days, he got an extra night because of a wound infection. The physio says he should get this all back to normal, though he struggles to do his exercises now is PEG has been fitted. 

My hubby didn't need any pain relief after his operation at all, which we found bizarre - I think it was because the neck nodes were causing so many problems, his body was just so relieved to get rid of it all  

Hello and thank you to everyone for your experiences and advice.

My husband has had his neck dissection yesterday. All lymph nodes down left hand side removed. He is doing well. They nicked his thoracic duct which moves fatty liquid so had to glue it up and he is going to be in a fat free diet for a few weeks. But no nerve damage which is great and drain seems to be working well.

At the start of his cancer treatment he had radiotherapy and chemo so will not have any more of that and hopefully this operation has removed the last of the cancer.

So two Operations...one previous to this to remove his good tonsil....radio, chemo and now this one. Who knows what will happen in the future but we both feel lucky today as it could be a lot worse. Good luck and many thanks to you all.

I just wanted to say hello. I'm struggling to find anyone who understands. I'm newly diagnosed, confused & frightened! I have a tumor at the base of my tongue which they only just found and secondary in a lymph node in my neck on the left (huge). 

Having a consent meeting tomorrow, feeling nervous. Lots of appointments all of the time. Can't seem to find any support.

All good wishes to you all. 

Hi Suziewoos

its a scary time being newly diagnosed and trying to take everything in.  Is there anybody who can go with you tomorrow? One brilliant piece of advice we received from here is to get a notepad - write everything down at your meetings because you will come out and have forgotten half of what they say.  Write down all of your questions and remember to ask them at your meetings.

you aren’t alone here, let us know how you get on tomorrow.

Sheilagh x 

Suziewoos

Not quite sure what you are asking but my experience was that I had more information (I'm a wimp)  than I wanted and they where more than happy to see my wife and tell her what she wanted to know, in fact there was to much to take in and what else we needed we could phone see a Macmillan nurse, you should of been appointed one (I think it is a general thing). After the OP and while you are in hospital you should get to see a speech therapist and a dietitian. After the OP I had problems with thick mucus but no other problems though I had a tracheotomy so was nil by mouth for 10 days or so but no pain (not the same place as yours so that is not certain) I did have problems with taking in food but had a nose feeder in the Hospital and lived on soup and the energy drinks through my PEG for ages. The worst bit for me was the Radio but that if you need it will come later. I would say try to take someone reliable with you for support as there is loads to think about and two heads are better than one.