Donna, glad to hear your son made it in time. The military is generally very sensitive to this kind of situation and will move mountains to take care of their people.

Sounds like you will be having very similar treatment to what I had, only in a different order. I had a tonsilectomy, followed by chemo/rad (cisplatin 3 times every 21 days, rad 5x per week, 7 weeks), then neck dissection after a 6 week delay for the tissues to settle down. Looks like the only difference is you're having surgery first.

What you are going to be going through is a rough treatment regimen, but many of us have done the same thing and are in a better place than we were before this all started. I was blessed with a wife that saw me through the experience and it sounds like your son and husband will provide the same service for you.

I recommend you just lay back for the ride and let the experts do their thing. Trust in their skill and the plan and the outcome, though difficult, will be as good as possible. Keep a positive attitude as it is a big part of getting through the treatments.

If you have any specific questions as your treatment proceeds, feel free to email me privately. Meanwhile, will keep you and your family in my thoughts. Please extend my thanks, again, to your son for his service.


Regards, Kirk Georgia
Stage IV, T1N2aM0, right tonsil primary, Tonsilectomy 11/03, 35 rad/3cisplatin chemo, right neck dissection 1/04 - 5/04.