I have baby smooth cheeks and a part of my face and neck are fuzzless too. My hair is starting to fall out, but this is part of what I was told to expect. Have to watch my eyes too. It seems to have dried them out a good bit. I keep tears plus on hand and it helps some.

Like Gary and David, my neck is fairly pristine from hair,except for a renegade or two just below my incision line. The hair on upper lip came in much more than the rest of my beard, to date, making it appear much darker than before treatment. I lost the hair at the very back of the neck as well, but it is coming in fine now

I think the very back of the neck is what surprised me. I don't think I realized that would be in the field? And I think it was David mentioned the radiation "exit" path? I don't fully understand that.
I just want to be prepared for him when he notices. He has always been very sensitive about hair loss and receding hair line, etc. He has gone to Atlanta to have the hair transplant surgery done - that's how worried about he is. I've told him from day 1 of our marriage that I think he's handsome and that if he goes bald it'll be sexy :-), but based on his history I would assume when he notices this current side effect he will be a little upset.

Michelle,

That was the way my RO explained it to me. The Rad going in exits thru the back of the neck and burns the hair off but like I said it's a temp thing and it will slowly grow back many months post Tx. Since he can't see back there just don't tell him it's gone. LOL I really didn't know about until my wife told me. Then my barber kept me apprised each hair cut. I guess I was worried too at first but looking back now that was a silly minute thing to focus on.

I remember when my whiskers began falling out, I was not expecting it, didn't even know it would happen and I'm rubbing my face and I would find little black specs like grains of sand in my hands. I'm thinking what the hell is this. I eventually figured it out but it was a weird way to find out. Like I said they never returned under my chin where the Rad was directed but the did come back above my chin. At first they came back darker and heaver than my normal whiskers and I had to shave twice a day but then they returned to my normal. Under the chin I still get a rouge whisker or 2 that I have to watch out for or else I look kinda old and senile. Watch it Jim !!

Regarding the field concept...
xrays do not just stop they go through and through tissue (consider an x-ray picture), and they are a lot more energetic. The way the radiation field is created is by changing the angle of the irradiation (and intensity). This will create a irradiation volume where the all the radiations add up. However, you still have the individual "shots" the path the radiation takes. If you have very sensitive cells (i.e. hair follicles) in their path they may be killed (both exit and entry damage). Generally, the stuff at the back of the head comes back.

BTW: This is why proton therapy is very interesting, here the particles stop after a certain penetration depth. So you would not have any exit radiation collateral damage.!

Markus

Just wanted to give you guys an update. 18th rad treatment done today and Dan saw the RO. I wasn't with him, due to a conflict that couldn't be changed. I sent him off with a typed list of questions and symptom summary, etc. Because as I've mentioned before he is horrible at communication. I said worst case - just hand my note to the nurse :-).
He lost 5 pounds this week and they were not thrilled. His choking mucous is getting really really bad, nothing new to suggest for that. You guys have recommended a humidifier and as yet I haven't been able to talk stubborn hubby into using it, but he said he wants to try it tonight. His taste buds are basically non-existent, nothing new to suggest for that and the RO told him it was likely they would never recover, based on how fast they have gone and how much treatment is yet to come. He occasionaly mentions pain and nausea, but usually it looks as if he's "grinning & bearing" it. I can't tell if he's being stubborn, if he's worried about the drowsiness the meds cause (then he couldn't drive) or if the pain is bad, but he has a high-tolerance. I am assuming when it gets bad enough he will let me know. He has no mouth sores yet - knock on wood - so I assume that is part of why the pain is not horrible. He does need his food to be soft and he drinks hot tea for soothing and he doesn't like to talk much. He is so hoarse it is hard for anyone to understand except in person. Since his radiation is directly to his salivary gland the RO has has him on Pilocarpine (Salagen) 4x/day since the beginning. RO told him to discontinue that medicine. Not totally clear why, but based on what I have read about the "not so common" side effects, I think that is why. I will verify tomorrow via e-mail. Hubby has not had complaints of dry mouth and I was crediting that to the Pilocarpine... if that is correct then I'll assume the dry mouth will start in a day or so.
Dan is still eating more than I imagined he would with no taste. I told him today I was really proud of him and he said he's afraid if he doesn't eat he won't be able to fight as well. I will enjoy that attitude for as long as possible.

He asked the doctor was this how it was going to be from now on and of course the doc said no - it would be worse and even though I've tried to prepare for what is to come, he was still surprised today to hear that. I imagine he'll be a little more depressed tonight.

I am trying to be very positive and supportive, but more in the matter of fact positive style - not the "poor baby" style. He seems pleased so far with my handling of things and is always saying nice things to me and giving me hugs. It is so hard to watch him through this and not be able to help him - it just makes your heart ache and your stomach goes in knots. And then you realize that what you feel is nothing remotely close to what he's going throug.

Sorry this was so long.

Michelle:

Hang in there. Im sure that you are an excellent caregiver to your husband. Thats a very heavy load to carry. I personally went thru absolute hell with my treatments. Then I think of how it affected my teenage children who watched me suffer and realize that they had it worse than me. Being a caregiver isnt an easy job.

Im sorry to hear your husband is starting feel the side effects. The dry mouth probably will not kick in til a few weeks after his treatments have ended. Keep encouraging him to drink as much as possible to avoid dehydration. If he hasnt already tried ensure, boost or carnation vhc now might be a good time to start. Push the calories too, losing weight isnt good, it takes alot of energy to fight cancer.

I will keep your family in my prayers. It will be over soon.

Christine - thanks for the compliments and Congrats on your Jan scan.

I have a question for you and for any of the others that read the thread. As I mentioned today Dan saw the RO by himself - one of the things that came up was they are actually now planning 39 rather than 35 IMRT's and 8 instead of 7 Cisplatin. He also told Dan that the last treatments will not be spread out to encompass the neck - they will be focused on the tumor area - because of the margins not being clear... So anybody experience this adding of treatment or know what it means to do the focus at the end? I swear I don't care if scheduling takes an act of Congress or what I have to do I am never missing another appointment. I love Dan, but he is horrible at asking questions, etc.

Michelle,
It sounds like they are giving him the maximum dose of radiation (AKA a "boost") which would be around 72 Gy. The Cisplatin is an adjunct to the radiation so if would be normal to add another dose to coincide with the "boost".

My wife was a most excellent note taker - and she had to be - my mind was too scrambled and preoccupied to remember 1/2 of what was told to me during Tx. All of my decision points and trees were made pre Tx. My wife (and I, of course) mainly had to deal with the side effects of Tx which changed frequently.

David - not only do I not have to shave my neck but the Tx also permanently cured my snoring (yet another hidden "benefit").

Michelle,

Don't let him believe that just because he is loosing his taste "so early" as the idiot doctor put it that it will not recover. I lost my taste within the first 3 weeks and my RO's nurse kept telling me it would return a month post Tx. I didn't have the benefit of this site so I believed her. She also told me my dry mouth would only last a couple of months. I was set up to feel deficient when those things she told didn't happen only to find this site and realize it probably NEVER happens that fast. My taste and dry mouth did almost fully recover but it took me all of 16 months post Tx and the elders on this site say 18 months is about the time one stops recovering so I'm normal. Don't let him lose all hope for recovery from taste because no one can predict that, only time will tell.