Thanks for your responses. I will make a note of that specific trach & the white board is an excellent idea. I believe they will remove the trach before she comes home. I'm sorry i didn't provide much info earlier. When she was first diagnosed and met with the surgeon, the whole procedure took her off guard and she didn't think she could live with the outcome. She sought a second opinion with a local cancer doctor who immediately started her on chemo that she took once every 4 weeks. The chemo closed up the tumor and she would feel great for about 3 weeks until the next chemo. She was to start rad ,but the doctor who read her pet scan, told her that tumor wasn't shrinking and she we'll need the surgery if she wanted to have any hope. She's not being treated a cc, and she having her surgery at Vanderbilt a DR Sinard? I think. The good news is she wants to live now, but she is frightned that she'll be disfigured and her quality of life will be horrible. She does realize now, that at least with the surgery she has a chance to
survive and if she's going to be in pain it might as well be on her road to recovery.