Eileen, I've endured three nose scopes with this surgeon in the past month and he finds no signs of the original tiny tumor that was on my supraglottis. Radiation must have melted it away. Several docs, including the one that diagnosed cancer and refered me to him, have told me that this surgeon is the best.. one that they would send their own mother to. In fact, several comments the guy has made cofirm he thinks of himself as a mighty talented guy (roll eyes) His bedside manner stinks and he's very impatient with my questions. I doubt he'd be ready to take the time to explain all these "what ifs" scenarios when we have the appointment a week from now.
Privately, I've heard in email, that it is standard procedure before this surgery for the doc to tell you the worse case scenarios.
I've been through so much these past few months. I'm finally turning the corner and feeling like my old self.
This forum here is where I arm and educate myself. In going through all the archived messages, I did not find one where they had "bad news" or something horrible at the neck dissection stage. In fact, most postings say this is perhaps less hard to take than the radiation treatment I just successfully finished.
Despite my fears, I'm going to remain positive. The surgeon says that I need five days in the hospital to recover from this, I'm now turning my attention to finding out how to beat the boredom of being trapped in the hospital that long.
Thanks so much
Jen