Michael,

In my opinion, you do not want to save anything for a recurrence. One of the major ways this cancer spreads is through lymph nodes. If they are not there, you have made it harder for the cancer to spread. You do not want to save radiation therapy for a recurrence -- it is the very treatment that may prevent a recurrence in the first place. Of course there are no guarantees, no matter how much treatment we have had, we are all at risk for recurrence, but you are much better off being aggressive right from the start. There is no question that treatment is difficult but we have all survived it and you can too.

Good luck.

Barb