Hi Lam,
Kris too had tongue deviation to the right. This was/is caused by Hypoglossal nerve palsy. In Kris's case case this was due to an enlarged lymph node pressing on the hypoglossal nerve. Does your husband have slurred speech as well?
You may see on the pathology a statement regarding P16 positivity - weakly or strongly.In this part of the world this is what they test for and is synonymous for HPV 16 .
We didn't ask about prognosis. We were told that the aim of treatment was curative. I held on strongly to that. Don't look at statistics, they do not apply to individuals.
Kris was more than happy for me to take control of his care, I am an ICU nurse so understood and could ask the questions that we/I needed to know the answers to. Kris trusted me to be his advocate and although he sometimes got annoyed when the Drs spoke directly to me he knew I was fighting for him. So , you do what ever you feel you need to do. This is your Husband - and the feelings of the teams don't really matter, I'm sure they understand where you are coming from.
Continue to ask questions, we are all here to help.
Tammy

Caregiver/advocate to Husband Kris age 59@ diagnosis
DX Dec '10 SCC BOT T4aN2bM0 HPV+ve.Cisplatin x3 35 IMRT.
PET 6/11 clear.
R) level 2-4 neck dissection 8/1/11 to remove residual node - necrotic with NED
Feb '12 Ca back.. 3/8/12 total glossectomy/laryngectomy/bilat neck dissection/partial pharyngectomy etc. clear margins. All nodes negative for disease. PEG in.
March 2017 - 5 years disease free. Woohoo!