Camille,

I’m so sorry about the bad news. You did not say what kind of chemo you’ll be getting, but if it’s Cisplatin, you may have slightly thinner hair, but you won’t have any dramatic loss of hair. As for radiation, you may find that the hair and the back of the neck, where the radiation enters the head, you will lose some hair or some thinning. It will slowly grow back but it is hardly noticeable. Do you know if it is cancer at the back of your oral tongue or is it at the base of the tongue? My husband had the second type and he did not have surgery. It’s just too difficult to get to the cancer.

ChristineB mentioned before that there are Hope Lodges for cancer patients near certain major CCC’s. If there’s one at your hospital, you can consider staying there and it will save you the two hundred mile ride for treatment. If there isn’t a Hope Lodge, then find out if there are medical rates at the hotels near to the hospital. They usually offer a substantial discount.

I can fully understand how you’re feeling. My husband finished radiation in January and in August he was told the cancer had metastasized. We were in shock. My husband simply would not believe it. He was offered a clinical trial and from that point on, it was taking it a day at a time for him and me. That I have found was a helpful state of mind to be in.