Timm, I, too, had a similar cancer, but mine was grace IVa. I had the usual six weeks of rads and two doses of cisplatin. Plan was to do the neck dissection only if a PET scan showed the cancer still around 3 months after treatment. I did not have surgery. I would stongly recommend getting that second opinion too. The ENT that diagnosed my lymph nodes as cancer scheduled a neck dissection the same visit without finding the BOT primary.

As far as waiting goes, it took me four weeks to get the right diagnosis and then another four weeks before they started treatment. The Tom Petty song is true, the waiting is the hardest part. Once I started treatment it was a huge relief.

Like the others I would highly encourage the second opinion at a CCC. You don't want the surgery unless you need it and many BOT, HPV with lymph node involved cancers don't require the surgery.