I got my ENT to better explain his surgery option to me, and we are going for another opinion in a week since the docs don't agree on what treatment.

The surgery would be to remove the lymph nodes of zones 1, 2, & 3 as a preventive measure. And of course biopsy them after. The scans were clear but the doc says that if this cancer spreads, that is where it goes, so we should remove them just in case. At least now it makes sense. I thought he just wanted to randomly grab some for testing.

He is planning to avoid cutting nerves, etc.

I am sure there is a lot I should know about recovery, if we go this route. What is it like? What is hard to do? How bad is the pain? (I am a wimp.)

I don't like surgery, but it seems like it would cause less long term damage than the radiation.

Thanks for any tips and information!