Laura,

It's hard to know for sure how you're going to react to treatment -- not everyone has exactly the same treatment or exactly the same response.

I had tongue cancer (T2N0M0) at age 39 and had surgery followed by 39 radiation sessions. My radiation was the general field type, as IMRT wasn't available then. Chemo was not part of the plan then, either. While I experienced many of the nasty radiation side effects that you see described on this site, they didn't completely keep me from much of my normal routine. Before cancer, my typical workday was 10-12 hours; during treatment and for several weeks thereafter, it was down to around 5-6 hours a day. (I also managed to get in several rounds of golf.) I found it helpful to keep up as much as I could with my usual schedule, as it took my mind off of the worst elements of treatment.

I also kept doing my own food shopping and meal preparation, because as eating and drinking became more and more difficult, I felt I had to keep experimenting with different ingredients (almost all of which went into the blender) to see what worked best for me.

Thankfully, my taste buds got back to normal after a few months, my salivary function very gradually came back to a surprising extent (with the help of medication that I continue to take), and I still have all my original teeth.

Please be sure you get the answers you need to get from your medical team about the reasons for your specific treatment plan before they take the next steps. It's really important to have a highly experienced head and neck cancer team taking care of you over the next several months.

Cathy