Kaykay,

Eventually this disease gets ugly and painful. I know that when my recurrence happened I developed severe pain when the tumor invaded a space occupied by a bundle of nerves. One day I'm fine and the next day I am in severe pain.

My brother had a diagnosis similar to your father. He went through surgery and radiation and is good now 1 year out. He still has his vocal chords but speaks with a gravelly voice. He eats soft foods and is working his way up to full meals but does not need a feeding tube.

Your dad will have to wait a bit before they give him a treatment plan and it will be hard for anyone here to give you much advice until then. I would recommend he get a second opinion no matter what they come back with. Different places have different approaches. Try and get to a Comprehensive Cancer Center if you can.