Garyock --

Please contact the American Cancer Society -- they may be able to help you arrange a driver or other transport as it is highly probable that you will not be able to drive yourself to and from treatment after a few weeks. It will depend on the exact therapy, but chemoradiation is very fatiguing, you may have sedation for the radiation (which will affect your ability to drive) and when (note I said when, not if) you get into opiate pain relief then driving is also very problematic. Worse, you may not be able to make this judgement call yourself.

In any case, ACS helped my mother a great deal with transport when she was receiving therapy for leukemia and she told me that they were also helping others who did not have local caregivers. Also, many cancer centers have staff whose job is to facilitate transport, housing (when needed) and financial assistance for cancer patients -- after all, no one needs these worries when fighting this disease!

Ask your oncologists exactly what chemotherapy drug you will be receiving, what they will prescribe for nausea, pain and possible anxiety. You need to ask if you will receive a gastric feeding tube (PEG) as almost everyone getting chemoradiation has problems staying hydrated and getting adequate nutrition by mouth during and immediately after treatment. Will they be giving you Ethyol (amifostine)? This has its own (sometimes serious) issues but recent studies have shown it does help preserve salivary function. Not everyone gets a portacath, although this does allow easier delivery of some of the chemo drugs (my mother had one). Also, not everyone has post-treatment neck dissection -- this is a bit controversial in the HNC medical community and seems to vary from institution to institution -- for example, none of my husband's doctors at Hopkins (ENT, RO and MO) recommended it for him although he had stage IV SCC.

This is a very difficult and hard road you will be travelling,and you will definitely need some help along the way, both mental and physical. Is there any possibility of one of your brothers coming to stay with you, for at least the last 3-4 weeks when you will be feeling the worst and need the most assistance with things?

Gail