Thanks all for the advice about re-upping the oxycodone prescription. I did just that at the 1-week surgical follow-up visit this morning. However -- and this is good news -- my surgeon recommended trying simultaneous dosing of Ibuprofin at 600mg 3x/day and Tylenoal at 1,000mg 4x/day. He told me these work in different ways and so can be taken together, and the combination has been found to be very effective for throat pain like I'm having post-surgery. I'll let you all know how that goes, as this could be useful for others with similar surgery.

The post-surgical pathology results were mixed. On the positive side the nice clear margins they got on the tonsilar tumor mean they should be able to reduce the radition dosing to that area, and thereby lower the probability of long-term swallowing and dry mouth problems. Also, they down-staged me from N2b to N2a because they only found a single cancerous lymph node -- not the three they thought they saw on the scan. The bad news is they detected evidence of extra-capular extension, meaning my follow-on treatment will involve chemotherapy (Cisplatin, weekly) along with the radiation. But I've gotten this far - why not make it even more interesting, huh? With this change and the advice I've gotten here, I think I'm more amenable to a PEG, especially after the swallowing difficulty I've already had from just the surgery.

The tumor board will meet on my case next Wednesday, after which I will have more specifics on their recommendations for my treatment plan. I'll give an update then with any questions I can think of, but in the mean time thank you all so very much for your support and advice.