Hi, Minnie,

We are actually in Wytheville, which is in southwest Virginia.

We are happier with our doctors at UVa than we were with the local ones, and especially happier than we were with the first ENT surgeon who is located in Roanoke, Va (90 minutes from us). Sometimes it feels like a crap shoot finding a good doctor...we were very let down when the first ENT kept putting us off and we knew in our gut something was wrong, yet he seemed genuine..just not willing to do tests so soon after the first treatment. We wasted at least 3-4 months on that guy. The folks at UVa are much more involved and not interested in dinging around.

I'm interested in more of your experiences, but I'll need to read more on the message postings so I don't ask you to repeat what you've shared already. More later.

Christine

Wife of Scott: SCC, Stage I retromolar 10/02--33 rad; recurrence 10/03--Docetaxol, 5FU, Cisplatin; 1/04 radical right neck, hard palate, right tonsil; recurrence 2/04--mets to skin and neck; Xeloda and palliative care 3/04-4/04; died 5/01/04.