Hey jj:
Sorry to hear all that you are going through, but please know you are not alone on this board. I can tell you that my husband had surgery for SCC on his left side of tongue, modified neck dissections both sides, graft from upper leg to tongue. The nodes were clear so no radiation. Three months later he got a swollen gland which turned out to be a tumor in his left neck. He had a radical neck dissection Christmas eve, however, they were not able to get all the tumor. He healed for three weeks and started chemo/rad. He has 6 treatments left. They added some to really radiate the tumor site. I don't know if he should have had the radiation recommended in the first place, however, if it was not maybe necessary, he might have not done it anyway. I just think at this time, his cancer became so aggressive so fast that it must have been mets from the tongue cancer. It might have helped him so much more if he would have had radiation after tongue sugery. Chemo/rad has definitely been no picnic, but hoping for good news in the future. He has his PEG put in right after treatment started and it was in a few weeks before he even used it at all. The PEG tube has been no real problem. He was told to use BoostPlus and was supposed to take 8 cans a day. That was way too much for him to take in so I did find out that there is other nutrients with more calories, so we ended up with a Nestles product that has more calories per can. I tell you this so you know that there are options. The nutritionist nor the docs ever discussed this with us. I heard from someone else who had tonsil cancer in the last few years and when I asked the docs, they gave us what we needed. It is interesting that we always have to figure it out and do the asking, but when we do, they usually give us something needed. Just keep that in mind. I hope all goes well for you and I pray everyday, jj, and I will pray for you, too.

Take care,
Debbie