Kellie, Welcome to the site. Sorry you need it, but welcome. I was a smoker for 46 years before my cancer. I smoked up to the time they did my tonsilectomy (my last cigarette was 2 hours before surgery). Then gave it up. Still miss it, though. What a nasty habit.

Testing for this disease includes needle biopsies, examination by scopes, in addition to the CT/PET/MRI scans. At least, those are the ones I know about. I had small needle biopsies which didn't detect the cancer and eventually had to have a sonogram directed biopsy with a large needle to get enough cells to confirm the diagnosis. The CT/PET scans also didn't confirm but only indicated "suspicious" activity. So as Gary said, biopsies are golden.

Pain meds are, in my opinion, pretty much up to the individual. I didn't like them either and took no meds throughout rad treatments, mainly because I was still driving and didn't want to be on meds and driving at the same time. The first few weeks after rad ended, though, I was a basket case and took meds all of the time. The last couple weeks of treatment and the first three or four after were the toughest part for me. Hope your sister comes through with less problems. Is she on a feeding tube or still eating orally? Just curious as I was on a tube as I couldn't take anything by mouth, not even water, for the last few weeks of rad and into the post rad timeframe. Without the peg tube I would have shriveled up to nothing.

Will pray for you both to get through this with a minimal amount of discomfort.