Hi Meg, my cancer was similar to Nicki's husband Tom's cancer. I was shaving one morning and as I was checking to see how close I was shaving and whether or not I was getting all of the beard, I felt a lump in my neck. This is the type of thing I usually ignore and hope it goes away. This time, I had my normal yearly physical in 2 weeks, so I kept it in mind and asked my General Practitioner about it. He immediately sent me to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. This doctor had just graduated from the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital, comprehensive cancer center. He told me he thought it was SCC and took a needle biopsy. It came back inconclusive so he took another and sent me for a CT scan. Both came back inconclusive so he took another and sent me for a PET scan. Both came back inconclusive again so he sent me for a sonigram directed needle biopsy. Bingo, it came back SCC. This all took months. From late August to early November. I was then scheduled for a tonsilectomy because the doctor couldn't find the primary site. They found it in the right tonsil and were able to identify it as stage IV with metastasis to the right side lymph node. I was treated with 7 weeks of radiation, 5 days per week, along with cisplatin chemotherapy every 21 days during radiation. After those treatments ended, I waited 6 weeks for the treatments to calm down, then had a modified radical right side neck dissection. The biopsy of the 35 lymph nodes removed from the 5 sections in my right neck was that all of the cancer cells were destroyed by the rad/chemo treatments. The Lord blessed me and my cancer was killed by the treatments. Needless to say, after 45 years, I quit smoking and drinking. I am now searching for some kind of bad habit to develop as I am feeling entirely to pristine. Hope this helps you with your paper.