Welcome aboard Mike and Ginny!

I am somewhat new at all of this myself and do a lot more reading on the site than posting. I have found the site to be the best tool around.

I was also diagnosed with BOT stage 3/4 back around the end of April and finished with treatment in mid-July at Emory Univ. Winship Cancer Center here in Atlanta. I was given a clean bill last month following post treatment follow-up procedures last month. I had my first scan around end of August but the Radiologist was unable to decipher a clean view. My ENT then did a direct laryngoscopy with BOT biopsy which was clean. My ENT has advised that with BOT the first year following treatment is the most crucial. 80 to 90% of all recurrence cases occur within that first year and it's most important to keep all appointments and show for all scheduled scans.

Good luck and keep spirits high. I am finding the loss of taste buds to be the big downer of all since this started for me. I'm told that on average it takes 2 to 10 months following treatment for the buds to return.

Bill D.


Dx 4/27/06, SCC, BOT, Stage III/IV, Tx 5/25/06 through 7/12/06 - 33 IMRT and 4 chemo, radical right side neck dissection 9/20/06.