Hello, friends -

It's been a while since I posted. I'm 9 years out after treatment (surgery, radiation, chemo) and feeling fantastic. No issues here. However, a good friend of mine was just diagnosed with BOT (SCC) and is already experiencing swallowing and speech problems. She has found an oncology team in Boston, thank goodness, and has been told she will be getting 7 weeks of radiation and chemo (with a feeding tube, to be placed soon). I've spent a few hours with her to help her through this scary pre-treatment time, and I have told her about this forum. At the moment, I think she's too overwhelmed to do anything except worry.

There are things I know and things I DON'T know about oral cancer (I had palate cancer, not BOT), so I'm here to find some help with the stuff I don't know. My own cancer experience was different from what hers will be -- I had no PEG and no PORT, so I can't speak to those. She's VERY worried about her prognosis (last text was something about 1-year survival rate, but it wasn't clear...) and, frankly, about the whole thing. She is feeling very much alone (hence my telling her about all of you!). I'm going to be helping her as she goes into treatment, and she has a couple of friends who can fly into Boston to help her out during her 7 weeks of treatment. She will return here to stay with another friend who lives near me during recuperation, as she lives in the south and cannot go back -- uncertain of timeline.

What should I tell her as far as reaching out on this forum goes? I don't know what stage cancer she has -- will find out tomorrow, when I have some time with her. I know that makes a huge difference in what lies ahead. In the meantime, though, I am hoping she can get some modicum of reassurance or at least a sense that there are many others who are or have been in her shoes! I'm wondering about the PEG, PORT, and nutrition in general. I don't think any of us can give her more specifics until we know the stage, but maybe some of you with BOT can tell me more that I can pass on to her. I am hoping that eventually she will join the forum and find some comfort and friends here. I did during my treatment (and before and after!), so I know she will, too.

Thanks, all. I'm praying and supporting her as best I can. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-Chris