Hi Christine,

I am not sure what a CCC is, but my husband's surgeons are at Emory in Atlanta (both his Head & Neck Surgeon and Reconstructive Surgeon). They both have some of the best credentials, and yes, I do tend to ask a LOT of questions. I even made an appointment with his Head and Neck Surgeon prior to his first surgery just for the purpose of asking questions. It is because of their great credentials, as well as my lack of knowledge, that I get confused when thier treatment plan does not follow standard protocol.

However, most of the difficulties have been with the reconstrution so far, and as I mentioned, his reconstructive surgeon does not know how to talk to people. In fact, right after the 2nd surgery when he did the pec flap, he came to the waiting room to tell us how the surgery went and what was done, and the fact that the bone was no longer "vascularized". I asked him how this was going to effect the radiation treatements. His comment was "everything will be more difficult, but it will get him thru the next year."

My jaw dropped and I couldn't think of what else to ask. His wording gave me such a jolt - as if we only needed to get him thru one more year. I am sure that isn't what he meant, but that is how it came out.

My husband also has a Radiation oncologist, but when I asked him if he does chemo, he said no, only radiation therapy. This Radiation oncologist is not at Emory, but at a good medcial facility in Gwinnett County Georgia that has some really state of the art equipment.

So, so far we have seen - Family Doc, ENT, Head & Neck Surgeon, Plastic Surgeon, Radiation Oncologist, Gastro Doc (for Peg tube) and we may still need another Oncologist for the Chemo (if the docs decide to do that).

The Radiation doc did want to sent him for a consult and work up to decide on Chemo, but after he spoke to the Head and Neck Surgeon, he changed his mind. That is why things get confusing. Even the doc's can't seem to agree.

Today, my husband has gone for another scan to see how things are going before starting radiation tomorrow. I know this will put his mind at ease a little bit about the status of the bone. The discharge the last few days had increased somewhat, but there does not seem to be any infection.