Paul,

Welcome to OCF -- you'll find a great deal of information and practical experience here to help with what you're going through.

I have to agree with several of the previous posters about going aggressively after this cancer. I also had a stage II tongue cancer with clear nodes, and my surgeons felt quite confident about the margins. Nonetheless, the consensus of the doctors at my cancer center was that I should also have radiation, because of concerns they had about the seemingly aggressive nature of the tumor. I went ahead with their recommendations, and so far the cancer has stayed away for 15 years.

Of course, radiation treatments can have nasty side effects for awhile, but if you do need to have them, you have to use whatever resources you can to help with nutrition, pain management and fatigue. You didn't mention whether you are being treated at a major cancer center -- if you aren't, many of us here would urge you to be seen at one of those so that you can get a comprehensive approach to your particular case.

Cathy