Definitely good words from everyone, especially Brian... I had a stage 2 tumor on my tongue removed in October (margins clear)... The CT scan taken before the surgery and the PET scan I had taken about 5-6 weeks after surgery showed no node involvement and no mets, and the PET even showed nothing abnormal around my tongue "tumor bed" despite the recent surgery.

My radiation oncologist told me that I didn't necessarily have to have radiation, but when I asked him and other doctors if they would have radiation in my shoes, all responded "absolutely." Like Brian has said, taking a very aggressive approach the first go-around seems the best method... Now I'm one-month post-rad and of course praying that I won't have to deal with this again...

One question/observation to throw out: I did NOT have a radical neck dissection along with my tongue surgery, but my nodes on both sides were treated with radiation, especially on the side that my tumor was on... It seems that everyone on this board has had the neck dissection... Am I alone in not having one? From one standpoint I'm glad I didn't, though I hope that decision doesn't come back to haunt me...

Eric