Hi Apappala, and welcome -- I'm so sorry you and your husband are up against this. Some people find it invaluable to seek a 2nd opinion, so you can have the benefit of weighing two sets of medical opinions on your best course of action.

I'm new to all this too, but I think PET scans can only detect cancer that's already established. Radiation tries to eradicate cellular traces of cancer before they gain a toehold.

There are definitely people who are treated with surgery only, you can find a few here by looking at folks' signature lines. I would guess that many more have moved on and don't participate regularly in the forum, simply because they have fewer treatment issues and side effects to deal with.

I think it's fantastic that your husband has been treated so promptly and before lymph node spread, that's very much in your favor.