Also you should be seeing the radiation oncologist every week to get a thorough check up. I would see the nurses every single day and my doctor would make sure to say hello everyday and ask me if I was ok. Weekly he would spend about 30 minutes checking me out and talking with me.

I wish my ro WOULD spend more time with me!! Throughout this recent ordeal, he has not seen me once. It's been the NP who first saw a red flag with my red tongue (which she said was too early in treatment to be that red) and, well, the rest is history. So now, a week and a half later, with daily radiation suspended until my mouth healed, I begin again tomorrow and I was the one who finally just told her to pass it along to the doctor that I only intended to do FOUR treatments a week, at least for a couple of weeks, to diminish the risk of this happening again and then having to take a week off. It made no sense. Missing days of treatment are missing days of treatment, and it seems like dividing it into a reduced series back to back would be preferable to an entire week+ of none at all. Of course I had planned to "discuss" this with the doctor, but since he's been a no-show, I just decided I'd lay my cards on the table and if he had any objection, he would certainly have the opportunity to show his hand too. He hasn't.

I'll also continue with the Erbitux, but I was only scheduled for five of those anyway, two of which I've already had.

It does seem as though this team is stuck on rigid protocol (exactly the same dosage and timeframe) for everyone with oral cancers (I've talked to some of the other patients), which I don't like. In spite of every medical entry in credible journals I've read on the topic of designing a treatment program which includes consideration of a patient's current non-related medical history, age, etc., it's one-size-fits all. Apparently there was no consideration given to the fact that I take medication for high blood pressure, have COPD, which by itself is well controlled absent any mitigating factors such as stress, weight, and the like, and of course the fact that I'm 70 years old, my skin is naturally much thinner than it was in my younger years and older people take longer to heal from just about anything. But I'm stuck with it now, so just have to grit my teeth (in my case my gums!) and bear it.

Thanks for all your input.