First off, thank you for this site and forum!
My husband who is 49 was diagnosed with SCC in his tonsils in January of 2005. He underwent the whole radiation and chemo deal and is now Cancer Free! Now three years out, his docs say it is unlikely the cancer will return in THAT area. However, at each routine scan we are terrified. In January of this year, he had just been "promoted" to scans every six months (from every three). This first one showed 4-5 lymph nodes to be "hot and enlarged" outside his lungs. Something we never wanted to hear. He had two different styles of biopsies, the results were negative each time for Cancer. They couldn't give us a reason for the change, but assured us that there was no Cancer and the nodes have not changed in size since. What a relief! His scans now will be every four months. It's been a long, hard battle, but he's a fighter and is beating it thus far! If you ask him how he's doing, he'll pretty much always give you a thumbs up! The hardest thing now (besides the fear) are the side effects of the treatment: trismus, muscle spasms (jaw) and xerostomia. He's a teacher and football coach, so talking, yelling and enduring cold weather are all affected by these side effects. We've been very active advocating for ourselves, and have much to share/gain through experiences. Knowledge is definitely power.
Anyway, thank you again for the support we hope to gain, and we'll give back as much as we can as well!