Mica,

I also had heat rashes and some amount of lymphedema in my lower legs when I tried to do things like walking extended distances or playing golf in the aftermath of my treatment. Generally the affected skin would take several days to go back to normal afterward. As time goes by (isn't there a song by that name?) this seems to happen less and less.

As far as the groin pain -- I don't know, but since lymphedema is a fairly common occurrence after cancer treatment, I'm wondering if it can cause lymph nodes in the groin to swell. Maybe someone else has a better sense of this than I do.

You're right that the healing process can be very slow -- I guess the rule of thumb is that it can take a month of healing for each week of radiation. I don't think you hit a magic date when you stop the hacking; at least in my experience, you find that after awhile it happens less and less often (and less severely). It sounds like you've made some progress if the skin on your neck has improved so much in the past couple of weeks.

Please stay in touch and let us know how you're doing.

Cathy