Pam,
I had surgery first. (minor, 1/4 glossectomy). Then radiation and chemo, the idea was to use something more modern... I.e. Erbitux. well he problem was I had an anaphylactic shock. So that was a no go (long story). We changed the MO and started with cisplatin, which caused ringing so we switched to carboplatin). So you can see we adapted. I still say that my first MO was an idiot. I and my wife (MD) told him that we suspect that I might not tolerate Erbitux because of prior exposure to mice, so we wanted a small dose.. that did not happen.. (funny in retrospect, as many things are).
The reason why the field was widened was because the guy who put in the peg saw a bigger area, so he ratted on me (good man) and talked to the RO and the rest is history. Re chemo, some people have 3x while I had weekly treatments (7). I think this makes more sense and is tolerated better (lower dose).
When I was in the chemo lounge my first though was, goodness, they all look sick (and old)!! WTH. I was the only one in my "lounge" 5 minutes from home treated for OC. I did not much communicate much with others during the chemo, everybody was reading, watching movies (laptops, TV) or working. I had absolutely no idea what to expect beforehand.... so you are way ahead there.
...... The point is, stuff happens and there are very few people where everything happens according to plan. It is probably better to be prepared to change treatments as things develop... not really a bad thing.


M