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Melanoma lymph node resection on neck
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Melanoma lymph node resection on neck

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Melanoma lymph node resection on neck

  • Post
    • June 29, 2023 at 6:27 am
    Finem Respice
    Participant
      Here’s an update for my melanoma journey.

      I just got my neck dissection surgery scheduled for next Wednesday at Moffitt in Tampa… so a little nervous about that. It is not as simple as “just remove this little nodule from your neck”. But it is melanoma and it has to come out.
      If anyone else has had this type of lymph node dissection, I would love to hear about how yours went.

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        • July 12, 2023 at 7:21 pm
        Yooperguy
        Participant
          I had neck dissection surgery in February at Mayo Clinic to remove a malignant lymph node. To my surprise, I was released as an out-patient shortly after the surgery and experienced virtually no pain afterward. The surgery was on a Friday, had the drain removed the following Monday, and drove home on Tuesday. The several-inch-long scar blends in nicely with the wrinkles on my old neck and is virtually invisible as a result. 😊 I have some loss of feeling on that side of my neck and face but am otherwise doing fine.
          • August 8, 2023 at 12:18 am
          JudiAU
          Participant
            I am quite surprised they took that many nodes. I thought the standard these days days was to take fewer. I had about six taken. Clean. Hideous scar on collarbone; quite nice now. Fairly discreet scars on neck. It took about six months to get neck mobility back. It still a little numb. I was 2B. Metastasis to my brain about five years later. Caught within three months because I was already being scanned so tumor burden was low.
            • August 8, 2023 at 10:44 am
            Finem Respice
            Participant
              JudiAU, thanks for sharing your story. I agree that the scars are looking good (at 5 weeks post-surgery) and will continue to get better. Glad to hear that some nerve damage gets better. Right now my left ear is still completely numb and I have several other numb areas down my neck even to on my left shoulder.
              Remember that for me, I was already stage 3 before this surgery, as a peach pit sized lump came up at the jawline below my left ear. I had already had my sentinel lymph nodes around my ear removed (and pronounced clear!) two years ago, when the melanoma on my head was removed.
              I hope you are still doing well!
              • July 11, 2023 at 11:29 am
              Finem Respice
              Participant
                Thanks, I just got back from getting my two drains taken out. All looks good and I am pleased. They told me that they removed 42 lymph nodes, and only two showed the melanoma, and one of those was already known. They said it would about 6 weeks total for everything to heal up.
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