Hi Mamacita,

A young child certainly complicates things. No matter how you look at it, cancer is disruptive to one's life in many ways. There is no "easy" part about it. Being a single parent raises the question: Do you have a caregiver/support system in place? If not, start putting that together. There were times I couldn't drive to Baltimore and relied on friends to help (Marcia doesn't drive). There were also times I was so sick I could barely fend for myself. We had a list of names, numbers, emails etc. that we kept handy for such a time. There were several occasions that if it weren't for them, I don't know what we would have done.

I remember initially thinking I would get treatment locally and continue to work. Little did I know!..... I probably could have worked for about the first 2 weeks but I hit the wall hard the third week and was useless until about 4 weeks post treatment anyway. I worried about financial aspects as I'm one of the 99% living paycheck to paycheck. I was very fortunate and blessed that I have a group of friends and fans (I'm a well known local musician) that threw a benefit for me that helped with our living expenses while I underwent treatment. I also did a fundraiser at www.giveforward.com and used social media to advertise and that helped a lot as well.

Here's a list of hospital rankings based on cancer as their specialty.

US News Rankings

At the very least, get a 2nd opinion. Most will tell you that attitude is more than half the battle. Having confidence in your team is vital. Whatever you decide, base it on confidence in the team that's treating you. Research the doctors as well as the facility. I had a rather negative experience at the local hospital which prompted me to go to Hopkins. I had a friend who was treated there for lung cancer and didn't make it. That and the fact that another friend was treated at Hopkins for BOT SCC and was practically screaming at me to go there! It turned out I had the same RO and ENT/Surgeon that he did. He's close to 2 years NED now.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"