Hello @simplygrand and welcome to H&N Connect. To address your hearing situation, My SCC was in my ear canal so initial surgery removed the ear canal and left me with unilateral hearing. My hero medical oncologist at Mayo addressed this saying cisplatin and carboplatin were both off the table due to limited hearing. She recommended a targeted therapy along with radiation which was Cetuximab (Erbitux). Now my cancer is considered skin origin, not mucous membrane like oral cancers, so there may be different options for these different types. In any case, 14 years later and there has been no recurrence at the initial site, I was fitted with a bone anchored hearing aid at Mayo and now hear from both sides again, but also have metastatic disease which has been controlled with both surgery and immunotherapy. My husband was also treated at Mayo for bladder cancer and due to his hearing loss he was given carboplatin instead of cisplatin. That was 5 years ago and his hearing was not damaged much by that treatment. Another family member just completed that same cisplatin/radiation regimen and has had no hearing loss up to this point but he is only 44 and 4 months out from treatment. Definitely have this discussion with your medical team so you can have the least risk possible to your hearing without sacrificing efficacy against the cancer.