I have thought a long time about whether or not to express myself on this subject. So much needs to be considered when treatment modalities are determined....size of tumor, location of tumor, length of time it has been there, margin clarity, node involvement, differentiation of the cancer cells....All of these things are determining factors in whether to have surgery, radiation, chemo, or a combination of all of them. As so many people have said, each case is different. You might read someone else's entry here and say, "Oh, this person had radiation; I didn't have radiation and maybe I should have," and you will begin to doubt the treatment decisions of your physician. You might be ignoring the fact that the person in question had poorly differentiated cells in his tumor, while yours were well differentiated....or that he didn't get clear margins in his surgery and you did.....Take all comments with a grain of salt.

Bring ALL doubts to the attention of your physician, because you need and deserve to have peace of mind about your treatment. I almost begged for radiation, but my doctor said that I did not need it, and that the statistics and protocols did not dictate radiation for me.

Does it make me nervous to not have had all possible treatments? I must admit that it does, to some extent. But as my husband says, if you have heart trouble and your doctor says you need a stent, you don't ask for open heart surgery, or beg for a heart transplant. You have the treatment that is appropriate to give you the best overall chance for good health.

I write this only because I know that I am uncomfortable whenever I read of someone with my same diagnosis...T2N0M0.....that had radiation when I did not. Those numbers, however, do not take everything into consideration.

I just urge everyone to write from the heart....as you always do....and to say anything that you feel is helpful to another person. But we all have to remember that each case is different. Knowledge is POWER, and we each need to arm ourselves with as much of it as possible, but another saying is, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." We have to admit that we do not know enough to make these huge decisions on our own, and that we must get as many opinions as we feel the need for, listen carefully, participate in the decisions as much as is reasonable, and then trust the caretakers that we have chosen. We have no other choice.

I, for one, was so uncomfortable with the decision not to have radiation that I went to MD Anderson for some second opinions, and they agreed that they would not have recommended radiation for me either, just as my surgeon did not. If we had radiated, what would we have radiated? My tumor was on my maxilla and my palate, and with these cancers, clear margins and negative nodes usually means that the tumor is gone---statistically. Will I develop another primary? Who knows? Where will it be if it develops? Who knows? Will it be soon? or in ten years? Who knows? Would radiation now prevent that? Who knows?

There are no guarantees with this disease. Get a second ...or third...opinion. Be prepared to ask questions and insist on clear answers. Make your decision, and then don't look back.

Keep us posted.