With 3 positive nodes I would have thought you would be on the borderline for rads...
I refused rads (actually I finally got up the courage and quit 12 days in) because I was so concerned about long term side effects and one of the things that helped my decision was asking my radiation oncologist (RO) what would happen if I didn't have rads and had a local recurrance. Her answer was that they would then offer rads, whereas if I had already had them they would likely only be able to offer chemo for a loco-regional recurrance.
So, you are perfectly correct surmising that you can choose to "use" your rads up front or "save" them for use later if needed. I chose the latter and have no regrets.
Jenn
