Thank you all so much for your quick responses! I am so grateful for this forum to know people have been through it and have experiences and thougts and advice. I am grateful for each of you! I know about being concerned about life QA post treatment. I feel almost selfish now asking. Of course our priority is 100 clean survival, but I have to wonder if it is all necessary seeing that the QA issues we have been able to identify so far stem from surgery and yet postings here and speaking to a friend (who happened to be a cancer surgeon) who just finished up treatment 6 months ago, have been shown clear by going through chemo and radiation. Not that those don't come with their own long term potential impacts on QA.
As you can tell, I'm very green to this, very naive, and just wanting to be sure we make the best decisions. Surgery is a one time irreversible event. We have feedback from the one of two ENTs in a reasonably small community. We have engaged ourselves with the one cancer center in the small town as well. I just wish they -- the oncologist in this town -- could consult with a more advanced center, e.g., MDAnderson who everyone says is the best. Do we rely on our small town alone? Is there a way without travelling hundreds of miles away to get a cancer center to work with our doctors? We'll find a way to travel if we need to be sure we are making the best decisions. With a son still at home and daughter in military, it's difficult, but we will. I apologize as I feel I am venting and that was not my intention. I cannot seem to cry because I remain so overwhelmed. I am instead very angry. And I do not like that I take it out on special people like yourselves. Forgive me.
I assume as a result of the PET scan last week, and follow-up consultations today with both Radiation Oncologist and Medical Oncologist that we will be presented options for treatment. I would like to put our options out there, sharing with this forum to help educate and inform our decision. So I will probably write more this evening.
Thank you again so very very much!
P.S. details about my husband... he is 52, never smoked, casual drinker. Will be able to add more medical facts after appt today. Thank you again!