scc in throat, right side, between tongue & larynx. mri coming to see if in tongue. scheduled for peg on wed & neck & throat dissection & rebuild with forearm tissue. just found out this week!

Okay, Eric. You are right where everything IS really scary, but take a deep breath and know that so many of us have been there and are now looking back. Don't worry about the PEG - it will become a good friend. I had the modified radical neck dissection and it is much easier to recover from and live with than the name makes it seem. Very minimal pain, if any. Lots of swelling, but that will eventually subside. I had a graft from the forearm and you can look forward to a small miracle there. When first done, it looks like a shark took a large bite, but within probably two weeks, my arm was all filled in and back to the same size as the other one. Amazing! Use the search function to learn about PEG and other things, and feel free to ask any specific questions. You can count on there being someone here who will have first-hand information to share. There is also a wealth of information on the main part of this site, and with this disease, information is power! Hang tough, Eric. We are here to help you through.

Ditto. Eric, I feel your fear. The only thing I want to add is to make sure you get a second opinion before surgery. There should be time and you owe it to yourself to obtain the best possible care available. Your doc should not be offended by this and should, in fact, encourage it. Best of luck and we're here for you.

-Brett

Hi Erik,

All the survivors here have been exactly where you are. Keep in mind we have done OK and you can too. I agree with Brett to consider other opinions just to be sure. A discussion with Radation specialists could be valuable before surgery. In any case do not allow statistics to get you down! People DO survive and go on.

Take care.

Hi Erik,

Don't panic, We all were you are now at one time. You can beat this! You are just starting this diffucult journey and there will be times when you feel quite a range of emotions. You are lucky to have found this forum. There are many members that you can get information and support from. The more you educate yourself the better you will feel about your treatment.
I am 7 months post surgery and 4 months post radiation. After your surgery are you having radiation and if so can you have IMRT radiation?

There is a huge difference in side effects from standard radiation compared to IMRT radiation.
Evertone who goes through treatment reacts differentely to the same treatment. You can ask any questions here and someone will be able to answer it. I wish you the best as you travel this journey and please keep us posted as you go through it.

Dan Bogan

Hi, Daniel,

Could you tell me the "Radiation for Dummies" version of the difference between IMRT and standard radiation? :rolleyes:

Thanks,
Christine

Hi Christine,
The basic difference between IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and XRT (Standard Radiation therapy) is that IMRT specifically targets the tumor, avoiding damage to healthy tissue as much as possible. XRT is more of a "shotgun" approach where a larger treatment area is involved. Both treatment modalities deliver about the same amount of radiation.

IMRT requires additional information like CT and/or MRI data to develop the software programming necessary to accurately model the shape of the tumor and other areas of interest like lymph nodes in 3D and optimize radiation beam entry points to avoid tissue damage. Not all persons are candidates for IMRT. If the tumor is not well contained (differentiated) then XRT may be a safer, more effective choice.

IMRT can dramatically improve post treatment quality of life by sparing some of the salivary glands and minimizing radiation through the thyroid and spinal cord.

IMRT was first utilized around 1995 for prostate cancer and new applications for it are being found all of the time. Typically only more advanced treatment centers offer it but that is changing rapidly as more of the regional treatment centers update their equipment.

Never the less, radiation in any form is still a very aggressive and potent treatment and will have side effects that are covered in other areas of the site.

For technical detail on IMRT go to: http://www.medical.siemens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-20&catalogId=-20&catTree=100001%2C12789%2C12757&level=0&productId=17251&x=9&y=4

thank you for your replies, i've felt so alone. does anyone know if virginia mason in seattle has imrt capability?

Yes they do. Type IMRT in the search engine once you are on their site. It appears that they just recently got it.

If you are Seattle can you go to "The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center"? They are an NCCN/NCI hospital See http://www.nccn.org/profiles/hutchinson.htm

Virgian Mason might be a great hospital - I don't know anything about them. Their site and clinical trials looked impressive.

The 17 hospitals that comprise the NCCN memberships are at the cutting edge of cancer treatment and research and have the most expertise.

I deliberately sought out an NCCN hospital for comprehensive cancer care. I wanted to take my best shot at this disease and my personal opinion is that comprehensive cancer centers offer the most hope.

Ever since I know that IMRT can lead to much fewer side effects of radiation, I have been wondering why I was not given this as my treatment. I have to ask my oncologist next time why I was treated with the traditional radiation.Is it because IMRT was not available in my hospital or I was not a suitable candidate for it? The loss of saliva has been a very big nuisance to me and if IMRT can save our saliva glands, it is indeed one of the greatest medical inventions.

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.