Hi Bill

Sorry to hear that you have to go through this battle, but glad you found this site and board, we'll all try and be as much help as we can. We're very supportive of one another here.

I'll try and answer your questions best I can.

I guess what you are dealing with are 2 issues, first the surgery, second the rad/chemo.

Obviously for boht the surgery and follow up rad/chemo you want the best you can find that's practical. To do the rad/chemo at UAB you would have to stay there during the week as the rad is daily usually Monday to Friday. You might want to look at serviced apartments instead of hotel, I had to stay in another city for my treatments, first time I did hotel, second time I did serviced apartment, the second choice was the way to go and not any more expensive than the first.

So, that having been said, the best idea is to get the surgery at the best place you can, with the best surgeon you can find. If UAB is that place, then that sounds the best course to me.

As far as the rad/chemo, what you want is a place that has a good cancer treatment center obviously, but also can do the type of radiation that is needed. One question, would the local place be willing to work with the folks at UAB on a treatment plan? That would be the best scenario obviously. Does the local place have the equipment needed for your particular case? Do they have expereince in treating your type of cancer? You probably asked this already, but I would see if the UAB oncologist and the one from the local place can work together. A lot of people advocate the big center approach, especially a place that has a tumor board, a group of multi-disciplinary doctors who look at your case and all decide on the best course of treatment.

I do have one question though, from your description, it sounds like they want to do surgery on the tongue, followed by rad/chemo, followed by a second surgery on your neck.

Is there a specific reason for this? I am thinking that 5cm is pretty big size, and I can understand if they want to see if they can shrink the tumor on your neck first, but surgery on areas that are previously irradiated is tougher to do for the surgeon as the tissues tend to have a different texture from what I understand. Just a question, and I may have answered it myself already.

Welcome to our little community, or as we call it the "club no one wants to join." Keep us informed and always feel free to ask any question.

Bob