Just got back from visitng dad in ICU where he lays after his external cartoid artery surgery - we had some hope since he did not bleed after they removed the packing but now they are saying that the neck wound is not healing due to radiation damage and this wound is communicating with the trachea incision they made for the ventilator so its a matter of time that it will break down. He is off the ventilator and breathing with the trach cuff; heart, kidneys, lungs are great; on many pain meds so it was hard to catch him in alert moments but I did and i know he heard me for he sobbed - very sad and heartbreaking for me to see him like this; we are headed toward palliative care in the same hospital. I hope he is reaching some peace and pain free but not sure how much time he has in this earth - god bless him

My Dad - 85 yrs old; 9/09 diagnosed T3NOMO; rad/low dose chemo; all clear; 6/10 - L retomolar trigone; more chemo; seems to have shrunk; 10/2010 back - significant ulcerative mass in the left retromolar trigone extending into the left tonsil