Harley, my cancer was not in my tongue, but on my maxilla and hard palate, but I, like Jerry, had surgery only, along with a neck dissection. I actually begged for radiation, so that I would feel like I had used all the weapons available to me. My dr. said that in my case, he felt that he had gotten it all, and that he wanted to save the radiation to do later if I had another primary. He felt certain that I would not have a recurrence of the same tumor. I was nervous about this decision and went to M.D.Anderson for second opinions. They agreed with my dr.'s choice of treatment.
Jerry and I have discussed our surgery-only treatments, and, while we are a little nervous about them, we are thankful that we didn't have to have radiation.
What you need to do is to get to a CCC, and if I lived in Texas, there would be NOTHING keeping me from Dr. Weber at MDA!! Nothing! They are called upon for second opinions all the time.
I also know, knowing what I know now, that my psyche would have been better off if I had had my total treatment there. Even though in retrospect, I have had excellent care and a beautiful surgery at our state university's teaching hospital, I have realized that I would have been more confident if I had gone to the "top of the mountain."
If I have more oral cancer, I will be at MDA in a heartbeat. Their team approach is designed to give you the best medical advice available, advice based on hundreds of cases just like yours.
You could be sitting in Dr. Weber's exam room in a week if you call on Monday. You can't make the decision by yourself! You aren't equipped. That's putting unfair reponsibility on you.

Good luck!

--Colleen