I am so sorry, Karen. My dad is terminal, too, from COPD at this point, though the liklihood of the oral cancer recurring is very high since he is too weak for radiation or chemo, and it had spread to his lymph nodes. My dad has been on the peg for about 2-3 weeks now. He is 76 and has a tracheostomy as well, so he is in a skilled care subacute unit. Medicare will pay for it for a total of 100 days, which means he has about 90 days and we'd better have another game plan in place before then. At least he isn't in pain - Get this - all they'll give him is tylenol because anything else would be too hard on him. Give me a break! He's almost totally immmobile in a bed, can't talk, can't eat or drink, he's dying a slow death (doctor said barring an infection or other unforeseen occurrence, he's got months left), and they're worried about what affect anything stronger than tylenol would have on him ...

I noticed when I had laser surgery earlier this year, and when my dad went in for his surgery, that every person that saw either one of us asked the same questions over and over again. I finally figured out that it is a cross check thing - to make sure that their information in their records is correct, AND to see if the person that is being treated knows what's going on ...