Hi good advice, and unfortunately this cancer can hide in the nodes even in the early stages. This is a mistake a lot of drs make. They tell the patient we got it all only to have a recurrence shortly after. Mayo is a great hospital but I was stage 2 - two scans and a MRI confirmed no nodal involvement... My dr. Told me straight up - I'm removing a portion of your tongue and 40 nodes. In the 6 weeks between dx and surgery I had a node blow up. It was cancerous and had leaked out of the capsule - this cancer can be aggressive and sneaky. He needs to check his neck regularly get to know it and high tail it back to the dr, if anything changes or his operational site doesn't heal. Your a good friend.