Hi Colleen,
My name is Angie, and my husband was said to have an inoperable tumor on his left neck (this is a recurrence for us). Well - that was 5 weeks ago - the Erbitux/Chemo/Radiation shrunk the HELL out of that thing. So they will likely be able to take it out. His came on fast too - had clear scans in his neck every 3 months, then all of a sudden, between scans, this node blew up to 6 cm. They are still very hopeful for us that this can be cured. We are at the Helen Graham Center at Christiana Hospital in Wilmington DE. We had a second opinion at Johns Hopkins, but opted for Christiana since they were willing to be more aggressive.

It is ok to feel the way you feel. I got myself to see a doctor since I was having trouble keeping it together. My thoughts are with you and your mom!

CG to H, Joe, 30 yrs old. 7/06-stage I SCC removed from tongue. 1/08-radical neck rt side, 8 positive nodes, imrt/cisplatin 6 wks. 1/09-6cm pos node on left neck. IMRT and carbo/taxol/erbitux 6 wks, surgery in April. 7/09-recurrence left neck. Erbitux, taxotere, 2nd opinion scheduled at MDA...