Ginny,

If I read your earlier posts correctly, this oncologist is not at a major cancer center. If that is the case, I would re-emphasize the point that I believe it's critical for you to be examined by a head and neck cancer team at a major cancer center, even if it involves a longer drive. In light of your prior history with this disease, it's extremely important to get the most effective (and aggressive) combination of resources pulled together in one place to attack it this time.

As far as projecting a recovery time, 4 months sounds unrealistically short. If it turns out that you need both surgery and radiation, 4 months doesn't get you much past the basic treatment time. Different people have somewhat varying experiences with recovery, but a rule of thumb where radiation is involved is one month of recovery for each week of treatment. Some of us managed to work at least part-time during treatment, but others haven't been able to work at all, so I would suggest that you not set demands on your time that you may not be able to meet.

Cathy