Rosemary,

Adding my two cents to the discussion. My mother is 71 with stage 4 oropharygeal cancer. She has had 7600 rads to the neck and 5 treatments of cisplatin and 1 treatment of carboplatin.

You can not determine the radiation dose by the length of time. Most patients have a treatment of 6 to 7 weeks but that does not mean they have the same amount of radiation. You have to ask the doctor or tech what the daily dose is to determine total dose.

As far as chemo, this is a relatively new addition to the mix so many oncologists are leary about using it and there really is not enough information available yet to make a conclusive decision. Unfortunately, patients are left to read the opinions of specialists, ask others as you have done and draw their own conclusions. But one must remember this - radiation has it's place for local tumor control but when there is systemic involvement (i.e. lymph or blood) you have to employ another modality. In this case, it would be chemo. So as Brian pointed out, this can not be treated piece-meal if you want the maximum control of tumor spread.

All things considered, 6 weeks post treatment, my mother is doing O.K. She has not had her neck dissection yet so is behind your daughter in that respect. And we are not sure she will have one because she also has a lung lesion that needs to be addressed.

In your daughter's case, one has to consider that she is stage 4 and what the probabilities of a long-term survival are using the modalities available. Some of the decision will be based on your daughter's personal feelings with the assistance you are trying to provide.

I'm sure you have learned that the role of family members is to act as a cheerleader for the patient. It can be difficult and tiring but we have to remember that the ultimate decision is should be made by the patient.

Best wishes to you and your daughter.

Cynthia