Amy,

Like you, I had a couple of superb surgeons who did a wonderful job with my tongue and neck, and I was hoping that the clear margins and lack of lymph node involvement would be enough to end the treatment right there. However, the oncology team who looked at the pathology report and weighed the various risk factors decided that I really needed the extra step of radiation to nail this disease and hopefully keep it from coming back.

I'm concerned that if you have only dealt with surgical specialists, you don't yet have enough information to know whether radiation is advisable in your case. That type of decision is best left to an experienced oncology team that deals with head and neck cancers on a regular basis.

Please feel free to send me a private e-mail if you wish.

Cathy