I will say this, like others have said, everyone is different. Some fly through this with very minimal side effects. Others, like myself, have one heck of a time.

I will say I have not heard of one person that received radiation being able to continue to go to work past week 3, but that doesn't mean it can't happen!

I developed mouth sores week 2, was unable to eat or drink anything starting end of week 2, had a PICC line put in that is like a iv going straight to your heart because peg couldn't be placed till the beginning of week 5, so I went 12 days without eating or drinking anything before they put the PICC in. Most of my issues stemmed from my nausea that they just couldn't get under control. I personally think the thick mucous would cause me to gag and be nauseated, cuz i think my stomach would just get so full of it. But it probably also had to do with the other issue I got when the put the peg in as well.
They took it out, but had to put it back in shortly after PEG placement cuz I was having issues and wasn't even able to get 1 can in a day through it, but most people can use it and get 6 cans in a day no problem.

I had a dry mouth first and then the thick saliva came, and I lost my voice around week 5 for about 3 or 4 weeks. Lost the hair on the back of my head, maybe about a inch or 2 high but from ear to ear (radiated areas).

I tell you all of this not to scare you, but just to share experience.

If I would have known what was going to happen to me before I went through radiation, I still would have gone through it. The fact that I am alive and 6 months post treatment and as far as I know still cancer free, 6 month scan result to come on monday, is reason enough to go through everything I did. I had a total of 7 months of "hell" time, and I feel very fortunate, as like i say some go much longer or some shorter with the time frames of treatment and as i call it "hell" time, but i will say this, even if this comes back, i am still glad i went through all i did, as it's kept it away for this long!