Hi Lynn,

I am new to this site as well, but my partner and I are now 15 mths down the track from diagnosis and he is doing really well. James was 32, non-smoker and diagnosed with stage 3/4 SCC of the tongue with 2 lymph nodes involved. They removed half of his tongue and performed a radical neck dissection. He then underwent 6 weeks of radiation combined with chemotherapy (cisplatin). This is a rather new approach here in Australia! His doctors only recommended radiation as the treatment is quite tough in itself and they did not believe it would be of any help, however on second opinion and after a lot of research we decided to go with the combined treatment option...I am very pleased we did, as we all know you do only have one shot at it!

One of the things we did during this time was take a tape recorder to our Drs appointments because everything went over our head at the time. James did not listen to the tapes, however I did and it was helpful as I was then able to reassure him on points that he was not clear on. I also found it important to act as the advocate for James as he was in so much shock and was reluctant to ask questions and push for information, which at times you do need to do.
Some other things that James found helpful to relieve the pain of treatment were aloe vera juice and pure aloe vera from the plant to put on the area affected by radiation. This helps relieve the dryness and irritation of the skin while not interfering with the radiation treatment.

So you are doing the right thing...I really wish I had found this site back then as it would have been a great help. Make sure you get lots of support for you as it is a tough road. Some of the best advice I was given was "Just take it one day at a time and remember to be kind to yourself"... It sounds simple but it really does help.

Thinking of you and sending you both strength, courage and positive thoughts.

Love and best wishes
Kris