Hi Charles,
I had surgery first, then radiation (no chemo). In my case I have poor kidney function and they didn't want to risk the chemo making things worse.

I was told they prefer to go with chemo/radiation, but with appropriate scans, biopsies and scopes, the surgery first approach could find and remove the tumors and radiation could handle any remaining microscopic cancer.

Nevertheless, given an option I would have gone for chemo/radiation.

keep in mind it is increasingly common and acceptable to defer surgery until after chemo/radiation since in most cases the chemo/radiation can effectively eliminate most tumors so surgery may not be necessary.

On the HPV treatment choices issue, highly regard expert Dr. Maura Gillison recently said:
..."it is unclear whether intensification would in fact improve survival, or whether deintensification would be safe, especially given that metastasis remains equally problematic in HPV-positive disease. Until we have data, treatment decisions should be masked to HPV status...�

She also points out that HPV+ patients are generally younger and healthier to begin with.

Source: http://oralcancernews.org/wp/HPV-po...rognosis-does-not-lead-to-clear-choices/

A common permanent side effect from Cisplatin is ringing in the ears; Apparently less so with Carboplatin.