Thanks Ane-Marie,

I'm pretty sure both of our daughters will be there for the duration of the surgery. We were all together during Reggie's laryngectomy which was a 13 hour surgery and a couple of hours waiting for him to get settled in ICU. We will probably do what we did last time. Have some breakfast and then walk around San Francisco for awhile. It's close to Christmas this year so shopping is always an option. But I know last time I spent the first 2 days in the ICU with Reg. The staff was very generous and let me sit with him the whole time. So those hours will wane with nothing to do. I will take my crotcheting and I ordered some books from Amazon today. Plus my laptop will be with me so I can always jump online. Thankfully the hospital is only 5 blocks from my hotel room, but even that is too far in those first 48 hours when things are really critical. I'll pack my toothbrush and my teddy bear and will be there for the duration. When we were there last time the nurses even let me shower in the patient shower room. They really were quite remarkable. My youngest daughter lives in the east bay of San Francisco so she will come often. Our oldest daughter must return to Visalia and work. This a very busyy time for her as they are gearing up for tax season. I'll get through just need some things to keep my mind busy.

I'm curious about something on the site. In the box where it shows who is online, it lists everyone's name, the amount of guests and then says a number of spiders. What might they be referrring to?

Bette, a spider is the thingy associated with a search engine that crawls all over the web cataloging internet posts, websites etc so that when you do a google search (or some such equivalent)using a keyword - the topic comes up.

Thanks Karen

Bette - I'm so glad to hear that you have such great family support! It really does help to have others with you on surgery day. Sounds like you have things well in hand with all the excellent preparations you've made. Just be sure to take care of yourself, as well. I crochet and knit, too and it does keep the mind occupied.

That's correct, I had radiation 3x to the same area, and a few others here did as well, and chemo 2x with my recurrences. A flap improves healing, and makes it possible to do Reirridation with the new tissue. The reason you may read no chemo after the first time, is that the body can develop a resistance to it after a while, but they usually switch to another type. Best of luck.

Bette, my thoughts are with you and your family. I know there are amazing docs up in SF so you're getting the best.

Paul as far as we know right now there will be no rad or chemo. The docs said last time that he had too much the first go round. I am not sure what that means. I am going to RO and MO that did those treatments to day to get those records so I can see for myself. It was 7 years ago and really a fog in my mind. I want to be more informed on the matter in case it is an option. Thanks

With all those treatments, surgeries, your husband certainly did have enough. Your doctors will know best, and may feel surgery is enough, and more can effect QOL or risk outweigh the benefit. Every case is different, and I was lucky. Doubt if I can have anymore either, at least in the same area. Good luck with everything.