Hello everyone, my husband was recently diagnosed (Nov 08) with metastic squamous cell carc in the parotid gland. He had surgery Christmas eve to remove the tumor which turned out to be a lymph node partially inside the parotid gland. Good news was they couldn't find a primary source. Bad news was they couldn't find a primary source. His ongologist is recommending 6 weeks of intense radiation therapy based on not being able to find the primary source and the fact he's a 3 time survivor of non-hodgkins lymphoma. 6 lymph nodes were also removed, none contained SCC. He had a G tube inserted over the weekend as an outpatient and ended back in the ER yesterday with excrutiating pain - tests showed the tube in where it in supposed to be - possibly his pain tolerance is lower than others for this type of surgery. He should be home tomorrow and starts his first round of radiation on Thursday at a tomo center in Northern Virginia. His radiation oncologist checks out well - highly recommended - interned and taught at Hopkins - even with all this, I'm still scared. My husband is a great guy, but can be difficult at times... He's a strong believer in alternative medicines, but has realized radiation is the best course of action for him. I look forward to learning from others in this forum.