Maybe cause my age they wanted to go with everything they could give me so I went thru with the neck dissection (modified) they removed 10 nodes 1 of which was positive then I went thru the radiation. In my case I would take that surgery 10 times over the radiation. I had everything removed with clear margins and took the radiation as a precautionary measure however I passed on the chemo. I am 2.5 years past my surgery and the numbness and stiffness is still there, I just dont know if a lot of that is from the surgery or the radiation however it is manageable and not that big of a deal. Hope this helps