Neck dissection

Hi John. I have had over time a neck dissection to both sides of my neck. The first time as part of my mandibulectomy and the second time a stand alone neck dissection.Both of these were precautionary measures and not because there was a lump there.  For the stand alone neck dissection I was only in hospital a couple of days until they took the drain out. I was cut from behind my ear right down to my collar bone. I had good pain relief so that was not an issue. I had altered sensation along the length of the scar and still do although it did improve somewhat over time and hardly bothers me at all now. I also had a temporary reduction in the range of movement in my arm. This is fairly common as the accessory nerve becomes bruised during the op. The range of movement improved spontaneously over a few weeks so I did not need any intervention. I have heard of others who have had physio to help. Depending on whether the accessory nerve becomes cut or bruised can affect the outcome so talk to you medical team about this. Compared to my other ops (mandibulectomy and 2 maxillectomies over time) I found this op comparatively easy and had a very quick recovery. However there can be variable results as I have heard of others on this platform who have had more issues than I had. I'm sure that others will give you more info on their experiences. 

Best wishes for your surgery. 

Lyn

Thank you 

Hello John,

Like Sophie66, I have also had a neck dissection, plus with a partial mandiblectomy. Of course you are anxious, and it's a big deal but thankfully one we recover from. You won't know anything about it as you will be knocked out, the best bit! Recovery is another thing and can take a while but painkillers help. 19 months on, I still have a large scar and lymphoedema lumps along the scar too but not everyone gets lymphoedema. I hate that more than the scar. Recovery was tough in the first few weeks but it does get easier. Stitches being taken out was painful but then it was done and the healing started.  It's all bearable and gets better with time. Wishing you the best with the operation and healing. We are all here for you. 

Carolyn 

Hi John

I had pretty much same surgery as Carolyn but apart from a slight turkey neck under the chin, no other lympho’ due to the  dissection (lympho along jaw line due to jaw surgery) my scarring vanished really quickly, used moisturiser twice daily.  All best wishes.

June

Thank you carolyn

i already have quite a bit of lymphoedema in the front of my neck which doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere despite pressure bandage and massage

Thank you june

thank you all

Hi John, I'm 69 and had surgery for base of tongue cancer and neck dissection at the same time. The surgeon removed 20 lymph nodes. I recovered very quickly and four months on, the Frankenstein- like scar I had is hardly noticable. It'll feel like there's a hard ridge under the incision, but this will soften with time. I have had no shoulder issues at all. There's a little numbness in the neck area and a bit of swelling under my chin, but I've been told the swelling is more to do with the 30 sessions of radiotherapy I had after the surgery.

Just wanted you to know that it's not half as bad as it sounds, I know that not everyone has the same experience, but in my case, it was a piece of cake !

Hope you'll sail through it, too.

Best of luck,

Linda

It's so annoying isn't it. I massage it every day and still it won't budge! Not sure what else I can do but we are alive and that's the important thing