My mom had her first surgery for her stage I tongue cancer and also had a neck dissection. All of her nodes were negative (no signs of cancer at all) and her ENT did not recommend radiation. She did have a recurrance and was lucky that they acted on it quickly and she was able to have radiation after the recurrance. After her recurrance her cancer could no longer be staged. I had not done much research after the first surgery but wish that I would have.

My mom has the same ENT as a girl named Stephanie that was posting in this forum. The ENT performed surgery on both my mom and her mom and did not recommend radiation. They both had recurrances and my mom was fortunate enough to have been able to get the radiation after her second surgery and she is doing great today but Stephanie's mom passed away. They were both battling this at the same time. I think that saving the radiation for a recurrance is a risky thing.
During my mom's battle with this diesese both Gary and Minnie were there for me every step of the way. I cannot say enough wonderful things about both of them. What Gary says may sound harsh but he is only speaking the truth.

I hope that both of you find the answers that you are looking for and I hope you find them quickly.

Dani