My advice is if they recommend radiation (I personally think they will and should - 3 positive nodes, and small margins - I would personally be surprised if they didn't) ask can we start now... ???

I'm not being facetious.
This cancer is tricky. It can be aggressive and doesn't always behave in a typical fashion. People often make the mistake of thinking -- only two or three nodes out of 37... That's good... And yes it definitely beats all 37.. However the nodes are the fastest way for cancer to spread. And this cancer can move on a microscopic level - his 34 nodes may have been clear but that doesn't mean his other nodes don't have a cell or two - hitting it with rads is the best way to go. I had one involved and was grateful they recommended me for rads...

Its not fun by any means, but you want to do what you can now to get away from this. You don't want to walk away thinking he's clear only to have a bigger problem on your hands later. (this happened to my friends husband a while back, and by the time they realized the cancer was back it was too late.) rads is effective... And as far as I know there is no alternative to it and chemo at the present time.

Hugs