Mike,

Judging by the questions you are asking now, you seem to have already become acquainted with your cancer and that's a good thing. Keep on top of the learning curve and you will at least eliminate many unknowns and the associated fears.

I will try to answer your questions but keep in mind that I am not a doctor, just a cancer war vet.

Re chemos: the standard bearer seems to be Cisplatin but it can have a nasty side effect...permanent high frequency hearing loss. Some receive it every 3 weeks during Tx (3 times) while others get it once a week during the rad. Some also receive Erbitux to possibly lessen the loss of saliva and still others receive 5FU which can shrink the tumor. Some receive combinations.

Keep in mind that the chemo isn't thought of as a killer of our cancer but as an aid to make the cancer cells more susceptible to the killing effects of the rad.

When to start chemorad should be left up to your docs, period.

Re odds: Forget them. I was told 50%; then 60%; then 70%; then 80-90%. ALL before I had even decided on who would treat me and how I was going to be treated and I was/is a Stage IV. All that should matter to you is DO I survive.

I have always thought to myself that the mental stress that we all go through is 50% of our battle yet very little attention is thrown that way.

Again stay on top of the learning curve.

P.S. You are not a dead man walking, but if you did smoke before, I wouldn't touch the stuff ever again.