Alex and I were warned on this forum that the effects of chemoradiation would likely start making Alex miserable around week 3 or 4 and continue 2, maybe 3 weeks after radiation finished. This seems true as an average.

So when Alex got to week 3 and was still upright, it felt like a bonus. When he made it all the way through to the end with relatively few side effects, we felt we had been dealt 4 aces. He did indeed suffer with mouth ulcers from week 4 and had sleep disturbances through the entire thing, and there was 1 week beyond the end of treatment when it hurt to talk.

The reality was, he was probably very very sick but I think our expectations had been tempered by a dreadful time with induction chemo it was not so bad by comparison. We had been told by doctors that chemoradiation was "brutal" so when it turned out to be merely "just as bad", as the chemotherapy, we felt we had got off lightly.

I believe that because we had been forced into successfully managing feeding and pain management before we even got into chemoradiation, it made a world of difference as to how Alex handled the chemoradiation (cisplatin plus radiation for 7 weeks - same as you). For this reason, I would implore you to take your pain killers at first sign of pain and not wait until you can't bear it which will be too late and a devil to get back under control. Make hydration and nutrition a priority too.

Nausea and vomiting is a well recognised side effect of cisplatin and healthcare professionals go to great lengths to control it (successfully in most cases) but the chemo component also makes the mouth ulcers and thrush worse. These are recognised as radiation side effects, so sometimes people forget that the addition of cisplatin (or any other cytotoxic agent) potentiates these side effects. This is where you will have to just have to persevere.

Hopefully by the time you get the "persevere" bit, the end will be in sight and the countdown to a "good" day will be doable.