I think - wait until the pathology comes back. I think that will be the definitive. According to my Dr. I am at one of the top two hospitals for this kind of cancer in the country. That said, I was told by the radiation oncologist that it would be determined post op based on the pathology. He said they will only offer me radiation if the possibility of recurrence is greater than 20% since radiation cuts those odds in half. It think it is too early to make any decisions. I understand radiation sucks BIG TIME. But if the doctors tell me my cancer is aggressive (hopefully not) and that I have a 50/50 chance of recurrence then I will take it... because it brings those odds down to 25%. It also has to do with whether there is nerve involvement etc... (he said they punch a bunch of numbers into a machine and then that determines whether I am offered it) Apparently, if there is nerve involvement (and lets face it your tongue has lots of nerves) then it ups the odds of recurrence because it's easy for the cancer to travel along the nerve pathways. The path of least resistance and all that. I am going into this with the mind set of - yes it is likely that I will have to have radiation and I am planning my life accordingly (with work and family) If at the end they say I don't need it then that's great. But I am ready to face whatever challenges it presents because in the end I want it gone.

Let me know what happens with you.