 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | I had 2 nodes in my left side that showed up on a Pet scan. A needle biopsy showed SCC. they later found the primary at the base of tongue. My FIRST cancer doc told me I had to have a Radical Neck followed by chemo and rad and he gave me a 60% survival rate. My SECOND cancer doc told me that he would remove the 2 nodes only and then do chemo and rad and he gave me a 70% chance. My THIRD cancer doc (Moffitt Cancer Institute)told me that I would undergo concurrent chem and IMRT rad and they WOULDN'T remove the nodes because the treatments would get rid of the cancer period and they gave me a 80-90% chance. Who do you think I put my trust in? I am not saying you should not do the surgery but I am saying that you need multiple opinions. Good luck and keep asking this group all the questions you can think of. I am 5 only weeks out of treatment so there are many others out here that can help you.
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.
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