I still have what's left of my tonsils after the radiation. There's not much left actually and not much left of my Uvula either.

I would be more than happy with a 90% chance of it NOT coming back. And actually, in spite of the late staging, my radiation oncologist thinks that I have a 90% chance of complete response also. They irradiated both of my tonsils and neck. No one even suggested that there would be advantage to remove them. We all run some risk of recurrence no matter what they do. Good question though - I will ask my head & neck surgeon when I see him again in 2 months.