One other thing about an NCI-designated center: It will have specialists who see ONLY head and neck cancer cases -- including the doctors responsible for radiation and chemotherapy treatments, as well as the surgeons. These physicians will meet as a "tumor board" and discuss each case to determine which treatment (surgery only? radiation only? radiation plus chemo? surgery plus radiation? etc.) will result in the best possible outcome for each individual -- so patients get the collective wisdom of several different approaches to the same type of cancer.

According to the information on the Cancer Treatment Centers of America website, none of the staff members at any of the CTCA facilities is a head and neck cancer specialist. This disease can be tricky -- you need an experienced head and neck team, which will also include reconstructive surgeons, dentists and nutritionists.

You appear to be only a hour or so away from the IU cancer center in Indianapolis. (That's how long my husband travels to see his doctor at Johns Hopkins.) That center's website, linked in my post above, indicates that you can call them yourself for an appointment.

Since you've shown a willingness to travel by going to the CTCA near Chicago, you could also check out Northwestern's Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center or the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center (both in Chicago), or the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus. Going farther afield, many people on these boards have been treated or given a second opinion at M.D. Anderson in Houston, which vies with Sloan-Kettering in NYC as the top cancer hospital in the U.S. All of these are on the list of NCI-designated cancer centers linked above.

You need to become your own strongest advocate, so get on the phone and call one of these centers. They can move quickly, especially when cancer has already been diagnosed and you are seeking a second opinion, so you should not have to wait too long for an appointment. Be sure to ask them what lab and doctors' reports, slides, etc. you should send to them or bring with you.

If you're in a relationship, get your partner on this website as well. Caregivers have their own set of questions, and many people here have the answers.

You'll find a lot of good information on these message boards and in the main part of the site. Keep coming back.

All the best --

Leslie