Thank you so much for all the responses. I feel like I've shifted into a more grounded, problem-solving mode, but I can break down unexpectedly when someone does something kind for me. It's hard to think beyond the immediate next steps, and the last few days have been a roller-coaster. I've done more research, and I've heard from a number of medical professionals suggesting we just stick with our local hospital because it is excellent. I talked to a head and neck researcher at our local cancer center, and he listed what he considered the top five hospitals in the country for head and neck cancer--this included our own local hospital, tied for numbers 3, 4, and 5, which is very encouraging (but I haven't seen that particular opinion also floating around online). I am unhappy with what happened in the oral surgery department, but apparently the ENT surgery department is highly regarded for cancer--maybe much more so than would be indicated by the US News and World reports base rankings. I am quite skeptical of the value of USN college and university rankings, but it is emotionally hard for me to let go of the importance of the USN cancer hospital number. I am tying it to survival in my mind, when it is of course no true guarantee.

What was discouraging about our hospital was the lack of responsiveness. Last week his doctor thought we would get in for CT scans yesterday, but instead it took two full days for the schedulers to get back to us...scheduling the CT scans for next Tuesday and the doctor visit for next Friday. The surgery was scheduled for July 6th, when I will be 37 weeks pregnant and full-term. I had called MD Anderson on Monday for information and I was impressed with how smooth they have made the process of coming in for a visit. After a couple of days of unsatisfying back and forth with the local hospital regarding scheduling, another interaction with MD Anderson, and after MD Anderson said they could likely get us in before July for surgery, I booked tickets and lodging in Houston. Once we started canceling appointments at the local hospital, they called us back out of the blue and gave us a revised surgery date of June 26th, and they offered that they would hold it for us even if we visited MD Anderson. We are not usually the squeaky-wheel types, so it feels a little uncomfortable. But I am glad he will have a little more time to recover before the baby, whichever place we go with.

I wish I knew better how to evaluate the difference between the two hospitals. US News and World Reports says they both have "Best" equipment, but that's kind of meaningless without specifics. Do they really have identically good equipment? It is hard to separate out what is marketing and what really could lead to a more accurate analysis and better treatment for cancer. Hopefully I'll get more details next week. Thank you for listening.