Dan,
I have never had surgery so I cannot speak about it much. However I can say that radiation and its after effects are a bitch. Sometimes I feel kind of like it is equivalent to burning down part of the barn to get rid of the rats. If I could have surgery that was not disfiguring instead of radiation, I would make that choice in a minute. Although the radiation got rid of my tumor and nodes without surgery or disfigurement, the swallowing problems, dry mouth, and in my case esophageal problems that I have experienced are very unpleasant and worth avoiding if possible.
Best of luck,
Danny G.