Emilie, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. But welcome to our little band of heroes, of whom I consider myself a junior member. You are among friends who will support you to the nth degree.

Charm's post above is terrific and, as you get to read more of his, only indicative of his level of intelligence and knowledge. But in fact everyone here is great.

Ask us any questions. Rant at will. Send IMs. We are here for you.

I can only imagine how scared you are and ditto your son. If this had happened to one of my parents at that age I'm not sure how I would have been able to handle it. But he can come on here and post too. We have lots of care givers and we always welcome them equally.

It's true: your friends and family need to get it together for you, not the other way around. Most do. It's human nature. But never forget you have another family here.

David's advice about the PEG is excellent. As a point of information (we're all different so keep that in mind) I did not get a PEG during radiation and had a very difficult time keeping my nutrition up. We all tend to lose some weight during treatment. I found that the sores in my mouth were so large and numerous that it made it extremely difficult to swallow even water. But again, your experience may be different. So if you're going in with the strong, positive attitude to tough it out through the pain, I admire you and hope you can. And then you always have the nasal tube option if you need it.

Keep us posted every step of the way.

Courage!

(Oh and it's a good idea to have your thyroid levels checked before rads, as that can mess with them as it has with many of us. Also assume you're seeing a dentist pre-treatment for decisions about your dental health and flouride trays; if this is all Greek to you, ask your RO - radiation oncologist - when you see him/her tomorrow)