Becky,

This is your life. You need to take control and make sure you are as comfortable as you can be with your treatment. I know this is all Greek to you now but you need to get comfortable with your options. Having an unnecessary neck dissection is plain foolish and life altering. Not having the correct treatment for your oral cancer is plain foolish and life threatening. Please stop and get another opinion or 2 (I got 5) before you do something that you may regret for the rest of your life. I decided to go with Moffitt, a CCC, because they treat 100's of cases just like me a year as opposed to my ENT who said he treats maybe 5 people like me a year. NO BRAINER in the "who do I want to place my trust in" category.

Please don't blindly place your life in the hands of the first doctor you see even if he is a specialist; even if he is well respected; even if he is this or that. Would you buy the first house you see? Would you even buy the first car you see?

David

Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.