I did want to comment on the RND and Liz's intent of her post. She wasn't downplaying the side effects that may occur in an RND. Many here have had RND's and had little side effects. What Liz meant was that an RND is very similar to a facelift in many ways and the total time for the wounds to heal is about 3 weeks. Radiation, on the other hand, takes one month of healing for every week of radiation. Eric's situation is complex in that he received not only an RND but also a free flap and mandiblectomy which was subsequently irradiated. There can certainly be side effects from this and some may be permanent. His staging was advanced enough that the surgeon perfoming it appears to have been following the NCCN guidelines for treatment, particularly since there was nodal, bone involvement and debulking.

All of us respond differently to treatment and Erics tumor must have been very agressive for the surgeons to take such major steps to save his life.

I had radiation and chemo only and have neck cramps as a result. It also took 5 years or so to get my full voice back. So not having intubation or surgery is not a guarantee that you won't have some of these issues in the future.

Head and neck cancer is a tough disease and for certain the most difficult time in my life. Just the fact that it is located in such a delicate and complex area makes it very difficult to treat and recovery can be long and tedious.