Hello, all!
I've been jumping around, reading posts for much of the afternoon and I've learned so much! I've also laughed a lot, which is a very important part of dealing with cancer.

My husband, Tom was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in May, after finding a lump in his neck. A PET scan showed cancer in the lump and it was completely removed--it was a mass of lymph nodes. But, we had no primary, and the ENT and the radiation oncologist (RO) painted a grim picture of treatment. The RO pushed for a second PET scan just one month after the first, hoping that something else would "light up." Oh happy day, the right tonsil presented as the primary! He had his tonsils removed and our course was set: The RO said 33 radiation treatments and the MO said cisplatin every three weeks in conjunction with weekly Erbitux. The MO had to push the insurance co. (a big one that should know better) to get approval for Erbitux. Tom is the first patient in our town to get Erbitux for oral cancer.

He started radiation on July 19; chemo on July 20. So far, the biggest issues have been hiccups and sour, dry mouth. We know we are just at the beginning of a long road and are taking it one day at a time. I am grateful to find a such a great source of information, support and inspiration. Thank you, Brian, for giving us this resource!

Tom is a web designer and has a site to keep family and friends posted, and to provide information to others coping with tonsil cancer. For his perspective, visit www.howstom.com

Joyce, aka Tomswife

CG to Tom dx SCC 5/06; right neck lymph nodes removed, dx right tonsil and tonsillectomy 6/06; rad and chemo started 7/06; treatment COMPLETED 9/06 33x rad; Erbitux (8x); Cisplatin (2);