Hi, I found this forum pretty late in my husband's treatment. Better late than never, right? My husband was diagnosed with stage 4a oropharyngeal cancer the beginning of June. He tested positive for HPV and primary was base of tongue and went to lymph nodes on both sides. He immediately started course of 35 radiation treatments and cisplatin every 21 days. We have 7 radiations left and tomorrow is his third and final chemo. I have 2 questions for everyone. He is in such a bad place mentally and physically. This morning, after another sleepless night thanks to choking and gagging all night on mucous, he had a breakdown. He said he just doesn't think he can continue. He is very afraid of radiation tomorrow because lying flat on that table, he's afraid the mucous will choke him and he can't breathe. How did you handle this problem? Also, he is considering opting out of the third chemo. His chemo oncologist told us that only around 25% of his patients on this regimen are able to complete the third cisplatin. So, there is a chance his labs will prevent it anyway. Have any of you opted out or weren't able to complete the third chemo? How did you fare? I'm just a nervous wreck. He is so beaten up and I know the third chemo will put his mouth sores and other side effects into overdrive. I'm just trying to keep him calm and logical today. I can't even imagine how he feels. Bless all of you going through this horror. Forgot to add, he has a PEG tube which was put in before treatment began.