Hi everyone. I thought now that I have a treatment plan put together I'd move over to this forum from "Introduce Yourself".

After consulting with the surgeon and RO, we have decided on Trans-oral Laser Microsurgery (TOLM) to take out the right tonsil and tumor -- with real-time pathology for managing the margins. He will also do a right neck dissection to remove the 3 lymph nodes that showed up on the scan, plus anything else that looks suspicious.

This will be followed in 4-6 weeks by either radiotherapy or a radiotherapy/chemotherapy combination. I�ll be getting 60 RAD units if they don�t find escaped cells and achieve negative margins, or 65 units with cisplatin otherwise. If we go the chemo route the RO would give the chemo weekly throughout the radiation term, which seems to be the new conventional wisdom to maximize benefit and minimize side effects. With chemo, the RO is also in favor of a PEG tube, but my surgeon isn't a fan of that because he's seen better swallowing outcomes by not having the tube. That's a conversation for a couple of weeks from now when we have the complete pathology results from surgery.

The follow-up treatments will start about 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, including a week to plan the precise treatment plan, make the mask, etc. This will put the start of RAD in late May, with completion around the first or second week of July. I already have the flouride gel carrier and all dental work taken care of, so we're ready when it's time.

From everything I've read here from others' incredibly informative posts, I'm in for a challenging summer. I'm very lucky to have an super-supportive wife to help me through this, and enough paid time off of work to manage the inevitable absences to recover from surgery (3 weeks planned) and to deal with radiation/chemo (whatever that takes). I'm also lucky to have found this site with all the information and encouragement anyone could ask for. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson are coming back from California for a mini-vacation starting tomorrow, so we're really looking forward to that.

I'll check back here for advice and comments leading up to my surgery a week from today, and post the results of that as soon as I get back from la-la land. I have to say that I feel pretty good with a solid plan in place and treatments about to begin. Wish me luck!