Kelly & Charm,

Thanks for the responses. I just got back from an evening of live music at a favorite bar. There I spoke with a gal whose former boyfriend had similar cancer. Turns out he refused exactly the ND surgery that I'm contemplating. He was fine for 7 years, then he had a recurrence and it killed him. Sobering story.

Nice to know about the numbness and the need for PT... better for me to go into this mentally prepared. They say you should be pleased to know none of the lymph nodes were cancerous, as it bodes well for ultimate survival; on that basis I'll offer my congratulations. What that ignores, of course, is the implication that surgery wasn't needed; so all you got for your pain & suffering was some peace of mind.

Cheers, Rob

Dx: T1N3M0 Stage IV SCC Left Tonsil HPV16+

CT 3/20/9. FNA 3/24/9. Panendoscopy 4/1/9. PET/CT 4/22/9
9 wk IC (TPF) 4/25/9. Port 5/11/9 removed 6/4/9 (clot)
7 wk CRT (IMRT; Carboplatin & Taxol) 7/8/9. PEG 7/9/9
CT 10/19/9. PET/CT 11/2/9. ND 12/1/9
6 wk CRT (IMRT; Erbitux, Carboplatin & Taxol) 1/6/10