I won't say that radiation is a walk in the park, but I actually thought it was easier than the chemo myself. Other than the awful taste in my mouth and the heavy mucous, I still would prefer the radition to 1 week of non-stop vomiting from the chemo. Once I got the peg tube, eating was less of an issue too.

As Brian already said, for this type of cancer, chemo is not used without radition. When used together, it is thought that the chemo might enhance the effects of the radiation, which is why sometimes people have both.