Sherry,
I was told by virtually all of the radiation therapy folks (doctors, residents, nurses, techs) that side effects depend on where the treatment is. Did your RO tell you what your plan is? I could access mine on the cancer center website. It said what they were sparing. Therefore, I had saliva through most of my treatment, and it is coming back again now after the loss I experienced at the end of treatment. I did not have as much in my throat either, so no sore throat, although I sure have had the mucus in my throat after treatment.

You need to follow all their directions, including exercises for surgery and radiation therapy, fluoride treatments if applicable for you, and take care of the skin receiving radiation. You will have skin effects later on, although some have it earlier. I don't easily burn, so I thought that was why I did not have burning until the last week and a half. You will probably have mouth sores of some sort, need to stay on top of those, using whatever you've been told to use, or cleared to use.

There's probably other stuff that can happen, but this would be most of what I noticed. Most of us don't notice much happening in the beginning. The worst time is the week or two after radiation.

Best,
Anne


SCC tongue 9/2010, excised w/clear margins:8 X 4 mm, 1 mm deep
Neck Met, 10/2010, 1 cm lymph node; 12/21/'10: Neck Diss 30 nodes, 29 clear, micro ECE node, part tongue gloss, no residual scc
IMRT & 6 cisplatin 1/20/11-2/28/11 at MDA
GIST tumor sarcoma, removed 9/2011, no chemo needed
Clear on both counts as of Fall, 2021