Amelia, my surgeon and radiation and chemotherapy doctors all agreed to do the rad/chemo first and then the surgery. This was primarily so the tumor could be reduced in size and to lessen the risk of the tumor bursting and leaving cells in the body which might lead to a recurrance. Without the rad/chemo first, my surgeon indicated that splitting the jaw bone and removing major muscles and nerves might be required in my case. He also said that doing rad/chemo fisrt could make the surgery more difficult, therefore more risky and possibly less successful. Given that, I opted for the chemo/rad first. The end result was my surgery was fairly simple, though almost twice as long as initially estimated and the doctor had to scrape the areas around arteries and nerves. I also only lost about 8 oz. of tissue and no activity on the bones at all. I had IMRT rad, cisplatin chemo every 21 days, and modified radical neck dissection. However, I was a tonsil primary, not a tongue primary, so the treatment regimen may be different.