Hi, sorry for your diagnosis but glad you found us to help you through.

Call the # on the back of your insurance card as Christine suggests. Tell them you have cancer. You need to know your co-pay, deductible, co-insurance, annual and lifetime maximums. What preapprovals are required for radiation, chemo and surgery? Also ask if any cancer-specific services are available to you. Finally, ask how many 2nd opinions you can get -- mine had no limit.

If you have no limit on opinions, I urge you to keep your local appointment, go to Stanford, and also consider lining up a 3rd opinion at another top facility. There are some big controversies in how to treat oral cancer and it's common to find widely varying views among the top minds. There's no cookbook for treating HNC right now. If you only go one place, you'll only get one perspective and that may or may not be the treatment plan that gives you the most confidence.

Don't be swayed by personalities. Look for the docs that cancer fears, not the ones who give you the warm fuzzies. But also watch for organization, energy, communication among team members.

If you can only obtain one opinion, make it from an institution that:
1. Has a dedicated HNC team and treats a large volume of patients, AND
2. Is a teaching/academic institution.

CCCs are among the top institutions for both of the above and a number of large, academic non-CCCs are also leaders.

Lastly, handpick your docs. Use the hospital web sites to identify the surgeons/MOs/ROs. Dig up their CVs and scan their research interests to make sure they're dedicated to HNC, actively publishing and engaged in their fields. Be cautious if you are offered a doc who does no research, even at a CCC. As Don mentions, everyplace has its weaker links and that's just not good enough for cancer this nasty.

Good luck!

Mama