I think Dave would love to avoid surgery. For all the obvious reasons but also because his work(which he loves) require lots of talking.
We have an appt on the 23 at Sloan. Hopefully, a lot of these things will become clearer to us then.

I really do recognize that some of my questions are probably very elementary and "blonde"(I am a natural one). But I hope you guys will hang in there with me until we get to talk to someone who will answer these questions. We are done with the current ENT.

What diagnostic methods determine exactly where the cancer is.
For example, if it was on the tongue but spread to the cheek, jaw,etc would you know that through the biopsy and/or MRI? Or can that only be determined through the PET?
Originally, I thought the ENT said the PET checks to see if it has spread to the lungs or far away places.
I guess I'm wondering if they would already know if it had spread to other places (jaw, cheek,etc) with the the MRI and biopsy.

Also, when people say things like the CA was in 2 nodes what test determined that?
He just told us it was on one side(from the MRI) and low(which was bad).
Lisa, thank you for your post. If you saw me walking around, you'd be amazed. I am the epitomy of calm on the outside. We haven't said anything to the kids or family and I guarantee you no one knows I'm freaking out inside. Today, Dave told me how much he appreciated how I calm and focused I was in handling this.

That is why I so appreciate this board. I come here and freak out then I walk away and act calm!!!