Dear all,

I'm asking a question now that I should have asked months ago, but just recently realized meant so much.

What determines a resectable tonsillar cancer? Node involvement? Size of tumor? Stage? Differentation? Further involvement? Feelings of the surgeon?

My husband, on the advice of the ENT, was told that my husband didn't WANT to be operated on because it would leave him so disfigured. He instead, was given radiation along with chemo.

He was originally diagnosed with stage III... T2, N1, MO. (Left tonsil involvement....2 1/2 cm., floor of the mouth with possible involvement of the base of the tongue with a 2 1/2 cm. left lymph node involved. The SSC was poorly differentiated)

Would you have accepted this choice of treatment?

My concern is, was it just the opinion of this particular ENT, or was my husband's cancer truely not operable?

Brian????????????????? I'm really looking for some hard core facts here, and the internet is doing nothing but confusing me. There is no clear definition to be found.

We are scheduled to see a professor at Johns Hopkins in the next couple of weeks. I can't openly ask this doctor what we might be facing with a recurrance, because I don't want to undermine what faith my husband still exhibits. He is finally showing signs of rallying after a year of being crapped on. The lobectomy almost killed him.....literally. Emotionally, he gave up. And now this negative PET. I don't want to risk asking the Doctor what his true prognosis is, at least, not at this point.

Thank you all in advance for any insight you may have.

My prayers are with everyone,
Mandi