Ronnie --

My husband was diagnosed with SCC BOT and right tonsil (and two nodes) in June of this year and just finished treatment. However, a year ago he had a neck abcess (which we now know was due to the cancer) and at the time, had an incision and drainage under rather emergency conditions. A series of CT scans were done prior to this surgery and when these were compared to the CT series done just prior to his June tonsil surgery, when he was diagnosed, the doctors at Hopkins (and also, Sloan-Kettering) noted there had been almost no growth, less than 5%. Our medical oncologist confirmed that this is generally a fairly slow-growing cancer (there are exceptions, however!) so you are probably safe in waiting the two weeks.

Be sure to get a second opinion (hence our trip to Sloan-Kettering) as the three top CCCs (Sloan, M.D. Anderson, Hopkins) treat BOT tumors with chemoradiation, and not surgery (due to side-effects) Barry had his cancerous tonsil removed down to connective tissue but the surgeon would not touch the BOT area.

So you need to consult with a medical and radiation oncologist before you make a final treatment decision. Having said that, chemoradiation is no walk in the park either but my husband is doing quite well only 2 weeks out (despite a couple of set-backs with infections) and at Hopkins they are getting very good results with this approach, even with advanced stages.

Be sure to ask the hard questions with everyone with whom you consult...

Good luck,
Gail