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Had surgery for melanoma on ear and SLNB
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Had surgery for melanoma on ear and SLNB

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Had surgery for melanoma on ear and SLNB

  • Post
    • October 27, 2017 at 11:03 pm
    jetdoctor67
    Participant

      Hello Everyone,

      Well, I had my surgery for melanoma on my ear (.04 cm size and .66 mm deep) on the 25 Oct.  The actual surgery went well however I'm numb around the SNLB site (neck under left ear) which I'm guessing this is normal but I've lost some facial movement specifically the left side of my chin and mouth area.  My Doctor said he did not cut the main nerve but working around it may have put it into shock which is causing the numbness and loss of movement.  He also said I may regain all or some or none of the movement back but let's wait three months before we worry. 

      My question is has anybody else experienced this?  Would love to hear your experiences.  Thanks and take care.

      Terry

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    • Replies
        • October 27, 2017 at 11:41 pm
        Nashvillian
        Participant
          Terry,

          I had a 3.6mm melanoma cut of about 3 months ago, and parotid removed, and. Lymph nodes. My face was almost like a stroke victim. As of today it’s almost back to normal. They get in there moving stuff around and causes havoc.

          • October 28, 2017 at 1:22 pm
          guynamedbilly
          Participant

            My SLNB site was still swollen for about a month and a half after surgery.  I had a nerve problem where I couldn't feel much more than tingling on my left side on chin when I had my Wisdom teeth out, because one of them rested on a nerve.  That took probably two years to feel normal and then it still comes and goes on the very rare occasion. Hopefully it won't be long like that.

            • October 30, 2017 at 3:17 am
            TexMelanomex
            Participant

              I had my SNLB (left side of neck and both right and left occipital node sites) along with skin graft from the WLE on the top of my head so its hard to pin down which caused the numbness but 7 months after the fact the left side of my head down to my ear still feels numb most of the time. My doc said that it could take up to a year to get all, some, and possibly none of the feeling back. Since the location of my numbness doesn't effect any muscle movement I suppose its different. Interestingly, on some days it feels totally normal but those are not often (although more often than they were for the first 5-6 months).  I hope you recover well and get all the feeling back!

              Tex

                • October 31, 2017 at 4:36 am
                jetdoctor67
                Participant

                  Thanks for the replys.  I have a follow up appoitment tomorrow with surgean, Hoping for good news.

                • November 17, 2017 at 9:06 pm
                ThinkingPositive
                Participant

                  I hope you get feeling back.  I had the SNLB on 10/30/17 on my neck and my lower mouth and tongue are partly numb.  Surgeon said I would get feeling back, so I hope so. 

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