Hi Jennifer-

Make sure you have baking soda and salt on hand. My RO had me rinsing/gargling from week 1 with baking soda/water solution. Also, I know you are up north where it is cold, but avoid wearing thick shirts to your treatments. I made the mistake of wearing a turtleneck one day-- made the mask so tight I thought I was going to choke to death! Now I make sure my shirts don't come up on my neck at all! Bed Bath and Beyond sells a wedge you can use to elevate your head when sleeping-- it was $29.99 at the store here. You probably already have tylenol and ibuprofen on hand-- that is all I have had to use so far (except for last week and that pain went away once they figured out the yeast esophagitis and started treating it). I just finished #17 and am still driving and able to get out a lot without any trouble. I asked the radiation nurse yesterday when I should expect the mouth sores to hit (I thought maybe I was off the hook since that hasn't happened yet)-- she said week 5 is typically when things get pretty rough and that I would not be liking her any more! I'm just hoping week 5 doesn't hit until after XMAS!

Oh- one other thing to have on hand for when you do start the strong pain meds-- something for constipation! You might ask your RO's office what they recommend.

Do you have fluoride trays for your teeth? If not ask your dentist if you need them. My RO has me wearing them during treatments to help protect my dental work-- I have a lot of fillings/crowns and apparently the radiation is hard on them. You also need to make sure to floss daily, so add floss to the list if you don't already have that.

I have been told if you register with the Amer. CA Society you can get free skin cream from them to help deal with the radiation burns/irritation. Aquaphor is very good-- for some reason my RO likes to wait and start that once you are done with treatment. If your skin gets really itchy over the counter cortisone cream helps.

I think you can go into treatment confident that you have done all you can to be ready! You are being very proactive!

Keep us posted! You are in my prayers-- what time will your treatments be?