Hi folks!

This is my second thread here and a lot has happened since the last one.
My mother underwent neck-dissection and maxillectomy following a lump in the neck that was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, and has been on the slow road of recovery for the last month.

She is undergoing radiation therapy in the neck and lower facial area, using 30x2 doses (Grays?) of Cobalt using a Theratron-780 machine. After just three days, my mother is finding her mouth drier, and feels as if her neck is constricted causing greater swallowing problems than ever. A little bit of searching (something I was stupid enough to have not done earlier, trusting the doctor blindly) reveals that the damage to salivary glands is much lower when IMRT is used. Infact, IMRT was was prescribed by a different radiation oncologist I'd consulted.

Now we are considering the possibility of switching to IMRT. The choice is complicated by the fact that in hospitals where we've enquired thus far, it would take as long as 20 days to begin IMRT.

Could someone advise us on the consequences of changing the mode of treatment at this stage? Is the long gap acceptable? Also, would the dosage have to be changed? I don't feel like trusting the present doctor any more, for I think that the old method should probably not have been used at all.

Thanks,

Ankur.