Petey, If I am understanding your situation correctly (and I'm sorry if I am not), you are getting treated at the hospital you are at but not being billed because of your financial situation and that you don't have insurance. Which, it sounds like, means you have to take the treatment they can offer.

But Georgia's right that for some cases, IMRT isn't necessarilly the best treatment anyway (or at least there is some debate on that). And IMRT, by itself, doesn't guarantee less bad effects after. I was treated by IMRT, at a new IMRT center (though affiliated with a CCC) and I have often wondered, given that I have bad trismus, teeth that have shifted around and now irritate my tongue, and esophageal strictures, if I would not have been better off with not-IMRT. I was atually told by a speech pathologist in Boston that does nothing but treat head and neck cancer patients who have swallowing problems that strictures are more common if you've had IMRT (my ENT here said he'd never heard that but he does NOT work at a CCC, though he's had good training).

There are a few people in this forum, some of the "old-timers" (Cathy is one) who didn't have IMRT and have a far better quality of life now than I have, even though I had IMRT.

At this point, what is critical is being treated within a reasonable period of time following surgery. If you were to delay, trying to get treatment somehwere else, that could be very detrimental. It stinks, I know, I also felt like I ahd to make some decisions about having not necessariily optimal treatment in a very rushed manner but getting radaition going right now is more important than what you get.

As for the stacks of branches--can't you haul them to the place they get taken yourself? I know it's not somehting you had planned on but don't let it ruin your outlook right now--just take care of it!

Nelie