Gino, I am very glad you are going to have rad, and hope you go the chemo route also. I did not have a terrible time. When the radiation burned my neck, I got drugs and it didn't hurt. The chemo was just time consuming. I got pretty tired, but not sick.

I had IMRT rad all around, I developed what the nurses called the radiation hairline on my neck, but it all grew back. I wear my hair up, and would not do that if it wasn't nice and even.

I had surgery, including a modified radical neck disection. The path reports looked good, but there was no question of my stopping there. My thinking was that I wanted to do this just once, so I wanted all the stops pulled out. That was four years ago. There are some ways in which I am slightly different physically, but I have to stop to remember what they are.

Looking at the big picture, the time you spend in treatment is a very small part of your life. It was not exactly fun, but I could have stood worse. It was all a pretty small price to pay for feeling so very good now and getting on with my life.

One reason statistics are pretty useless is that we are all different. What might not work for someone who continues the behaviors that may have caused the cancer, may be just the ticket for you. Bottom line, fight your best fight and forget about everyone else. Plain and simple, your best chance to survive is with the most aggressive treatment.

We have all developed many tips and tricks with which we can help you get through. Go in with a fighting spirit and you will find it will not be as horrible as you many have imagined. We will be here to help as much as necessary.