I am curious to hear that doctor will save radiation for recurrence. I would think that radiation should be considered in the first round treatment to avoid recurrence. Like Gary, I didn't have surgery to remove my tumors. In fact my stage of cancer was more advanced than Gary's as it was a T2N3M0 classified as stage 4b. My team of doctors did not suggest surgery since it would involve a very extensive area and would definitely affect my voice which was very important to me since I am a school teacher. I had 48 rounds of radiation (at full dose)plus 4 rounds of cisplatin concurrently. I lost all my saliva since I was not given IMRT. Like some of the patients here, I was rather ignorant about my illness and in fact I didn't know what I should ask and what my rights were. I only put my life in my doctors' hands. And very luckily, I am still alive with almost everything back to normal except my very dry mouth and loss of sweet taste. A price to give.

Karen.