Hi everyone...My name is Tracy. My father is in his third fight with oral cancer. He was first diagnosed back in 1989. He had part of his tongue and some jaw bone taken out..the Dr's rebuilt his tongue with muscle from his back and put a plate in his jaw. He didn't have radiation or chemo, then in 1999 it came back. The dr's took part of the tongue and this time used fatty tissue from his cheek to rebuid the tongue...again, no RAD or chemo. Now, here we are again, he had surgery back in March. He had a radical neck dissection. He also a large portion of his jawbone taken out, and now is undergoing radiation. He has has been going for about 5 weeks and still has 2 more weeks left. He takes two treatments a day. Three months after the RAD is over, the Dr. will take a rib and rebuild his jawbone. The RAD is really hard on him. He has a feeding tube and is unable to take anything via his mouth. I was wondering how long after RAD ended would the side effects start going away...I have been a lurker at this website for a month or so and everyone is really helpful with all your info...I never realized how many people have gone through this horrible disease.