I have to post this quickly as I need to run back to the dentist today to get my trays made and see if the tooth-pulling/root drilling from last week has healed well enough for rad. next week but here are some of the many things coming up which I'm a little fearful of I thought people here might be able to tell me a little about.

1. what's the deal with the mask in radiation therapy? what kind of a mask? Is it uncomfortable? Can you breathe ok? Does it hurt if your skin gets sore? For some reason the idea scares me though I certainly understand why you have to stay perectly still.

2. I'm getting a PEG tube put in Friday--it's a bigger deal than I was hoping it would be--it sounds like one of those yucky surgeries where you hope you are sedated as much as they think you are (I wasn't when I had a colonoscopy 4 years ago and that experience was baaad). And there's an overnight in the hospital after I guess ebcause they want to make sure it's in OK and you have to be fed by IV for a while right after the insertion(?). They said it could be pretty painful for a few days after. How painful? That weekend is the last before rad. and I was hoping to visit with some friends and not be in pain all weekend--as I was this weekend from the dental work

3. Your teeth/gums after radiation. I know it's bad news if you have so much decay or damage that you'd need to have one pulled but what about fillings for small cavities? Do they require hyperbaric oxygen too? What about getting crowns/bridges? I hope I can get that done after for the two spots where I'm missing teeth now but are there risks with that as well??

OK, no more time to type the other questions but these are the three things on the top of my worry list this morning and I know I always deal better with things when I have some idea what to expect....

Nelie