Ehall
So sorry you will be joining the our little club of two radiation masks holders and that they can't do Cyberknife. Did they ever find out what that rash was?

They have no idea what the rash is, only that is it isn't cancerous. Sorry but no mask. Because it is under the chin, they won't be doing a mask. They will be shooting from the throat down about 10 inches, in fact it will be about the size of a standard sheet of paper. The Surgeon and the RO said that I should be healed enough from the surgery about 3 weeks after to start the Radiation. The RO likes the surgery, but the MO thinks it is a waste of time. The surgeon feels that if I have to go, then metting to the lung is a lot less painful than if it eats into the trachea and throat area. He says that that is not only painful but nasty. The MO says that I have about a year. The surgeon says the same, BUT, with out the surgery then it is for sure only the year. With it, who knows I could be one of the 5%. I am going with the surgery.

Well I had the surgery last week on Wednesday the 4th. The tumor had really gotten nasty. It had gotten to the size of a half a grapefruit, under my neck, on top of the sternum, plus it was purple and oozey. The surgical team was a double team, Head and Neck, &, Thoracic. They snipped the clavicles and the #1 rib (both sides)and then took the whole mass of bone, and tumorous material completely out at one shot. Apparently it left quite a hole. They then went under my left breast and cut a big circle of muscle/skin and then then swung the whole thing up into where the mass and bone came out, sewed the whole thing down. Like the head and neck specialist said, this gives me 5 more percent. I will take my 5 percents anywhere I can. Like DW says, someone has to be in the five per cent, why not me? Supposedly in 3-4 weeks, I should be ready to start the next round of treatment, with the MO and the RO.
Has anyone ever switched MOs? I can't put my finger on it but mine, seems too "nice". Is that silly? I would rather she be tough as nails. Like that would make any difference?

My MO was really nice but my Cisplatin was really nasty. I think that's the important thing. lol

They took the tumor out as well as the manubrium bone (top of the sternum). To take the manubrium, they cut the first rib on both sides as well as the cut the clavicles where they connect. I have started radiation and they currently have me on F5U. The only bad thing is that I have all of these little tumors popping up on my chest. They are treating me as if I had skin cancer for that part, as well as the deeper treatment. The good news is that by doing the skin cancer treatment (still SCC), it has a very high rate of stopping that; the bad news is, we still don't know where or if the other is going. They are talking about doing the Cisplatin cocktail, once a week on top of the F5U.