Hi Mark

My Alex suffered dreadful anxiety before each new treatment because he didn't know what was coming. Immediately afterward, he was all sweetness and light because the treatment was NEVER as bad as he imagined.

Remember that the radiation therapy itself does not hurt and it will hopefully be a couple of weeks or more before you start to feel the effects of ulcers and burns. It comes on gradually so you can manage it with pain killers and special mouthwashes.

The only thing you need to deal with is the mask. Other posters have covered the use of anti-anxiety medication, self meditation techniques etc so I will not repeat.

Alex found that imagining those radiation beams blasting the cancer actually made him feel like he was doing something which caused him to almost look forward to the treatment. He actually fretted when the machine broke down (which it did often) and there was a chance he wouldn't get radiation that day. Even the mouth ulcers which developed around week 3 were seen by Alex as a sign the treatment was working. Once he was comfortable and familiar with the routine he played a game with the machine, predicting where it would be when he opened his eyes.