Thank you everybody for the well wishes, and the advice....I'm being treated at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center....I came this close ______ to going to MD Anderson in Houston...until I found out that we have the IMRT here...radiation being the scariest part of all this to me. Being far away from family and friends didn't appeal to me, either.

My husband is being my rock. He takes me for my amifostine everyday, then picks me up and takes me to radiation...I thought at first I could do this part myself, but the amifostine is just too darn hard on me...plus all the anti-nausea meds that go with it, would impair my driving skills. It doesn't matter tho, because he insists on taking me and picking me up.

I have two sisters here in town, both who have taken on all cooking....for me, and for my hubby...every weekend the food piles in, and I'm eating for as long as I can. I did practice with the tube, tho...thought I better have that under control before I truly need it. Piece of cake, no problem at all. So far, I haven't lost any weight, even with the mouth sores....I just pile in the food behind my lips ...it's a little messy, but what the hey!

Emotionally, I seem to do ok....tho by the end of the week, I think I've hit my coping limit, weekends are a blessing. I keep trying to look at Amifostine as my spit saver....give it a positive name...but so far "daily sick" seems to fit it best...LOL. I know this third week will be the beginning of the hard times...I'm as prepared as anyone can be for the unknown...one day at a time, don't fight battles that haven't arrived yet.....I'm conciously making myself follow in a positive thought process....since by nature, I'm more of a worry wort, fretting type person...a control freak, I guess...LOL. Learning new things about myself everyday.

Having people to talk to who have gone thru this, or are going thru it at the same time is a sanity saver.....I can't imagine doing this alone.

p