My mom is 72 years old. She has stage IV cancer of the lower gums and a month and a half ago had surgery to remove the lower gum and part of her jawbone and at least six lymph nodes that had "caught" the cancer. Her recovery from surgery was difficult to say the least and she is just beginning to feel better now when they want her to start chemo-radiation, much like you've all described here. She's fairly determined not to do the radiation/chemo. Does anyone have any thoughts on this decision given her age and your own experiences with recovery and life after radiation/chemo treatments? I think she'd be happier with one more strong year than with two years of recovery and another so-so two years after that...

I'm sorry for all of you that have to go through this. It takes so much courage and strength. Any insight would be much appreciated.