Again, thanks for the posts - I have booked an appointment with my Dr. (oncologist) for next week to see what his answers are to the questions you folks have responded to. Today I am feeling so emotional - people are saying YAHOO, but I have such a feeling that the other shoe has not dropped. The Dr. has not cancelled the radiation appointments yet as he wants to hear back from the review of the initial slides (needle biopsy) that said I have cancer. From the info you all have provided, I think I should be asking to read the pathology report from the radical neck dissection biopsy of the nodes to see for myself how many nodes were checked!! To let you know - I live in Alberta, Canada so luckily everything is covered by our provincial health care - cost wise. And my treatment is at the Cross Cancer Institute (surgery done at the University Hospital) Thanks again for the leads.terry