When I was on the previous set schedule, I saw the RO every Tuesday following the rad session and then he only did a quick look inside my mouth, but it's only since I had the burning reaction throughout my mouth that he seems to not want to be involved and leaves it up to his nurse practitioner (who is WONDERFUL, btw). I hate to project, but he just may be the type of doctor who doesn't appreciate patients (like me) who do a lot of research online. I usually did have some questions every week, mostly concerning relatively minor issues (like the headaches I experienced after the first week), but again those questions were only because I was not adequately informed of all the potential repercussions beforehand. For example, many here have recommended the product Gelclair for relief from the thick saliva, and when I asked if he could prescribe some, his response was [paraphrasing] that he wasn't too keen on some of these "newer" products. He said to use the Magic Mouthwash which had previously been prescribed.

But good news today. The radiation technicians put their heads together on my particular situation with my lips getting so badly burned, and they cut a hole in the mask so that my lips won't be exposed to the radiation. (Apparently the mask acts as a conductor of sorts??) So kudos to them!! All went well, and we were all smiling for a change this morning!

Maybe my experience is confirmation that unless a patient speaks up and demands at least an attempt at deviation from the rigid protocol, you're stuck with whatever they want to do, whether it's going to harm you or not.

If I had had the option of having treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, I most certainly would have gone there, but it would have meant over a hundred-mile round trip every day, and I just couldn't afford that out of pocket expense.