Nicki, it is possible to avoid surgery. Take myself as an example. My neck tumor shrank from the size of a goose egg to that of a peanut within a month post chemo-radiation treatment. I still thought that surgery was inevitable but I was wrong. The follow up scan taken at 2 months post treatment could not detect cancer cells around the area. So I did not need any surgery. You are not naive thinking that your husband may skip operation. Good luck,
Karen.