When they presented the surgery option to me, they informed me that my quality of life would be impacted by it. I would never be able to swallow normally again as the flap was only there to fill in the space, not be a functional muscle. They also stated that due to the length of the operation (they predicted 14 hrs, same as you), the risk of infection was higher and that the actual morbidity would be slightly increased. And then the fact that everything would be radiated anyway (possibly damaging some of the surgical areas and flap)- they all agreed that radiation and chemo was the best path with the least risk - for me. I would probably be asking about long term quality of life issues with the surgery. My head and neck surgeon was the one who recommended against surgery. Very tough decisions to make. And remember, as close as our conditions are I had no lymph node involvement and you do so that has to factor in.