Tessa,

Welcome to this site -- or, as it's sometimes called, the club nobody wants to join.

I'm glad you were able to get to Sloan Kettering. As many here will tell you, it's very important to get to a major cancer center as soon as possible with this disease, because too often it's treated by half-measures in hospitals that have fewer resources focused on oral cancer. Please try not to be frightened by what you read about your treatment, but use the information to be as prepared as you can for the possible side effects. Dry mouth is pretty much an inevitable result of radiation, but different people experience it to different degrees. As Mark said, it's important to do what you can to stay hydrated, and be sure your doctors are giving you what you need to soothe the lining of your mouth and, if necessary, to fight off infections down the road.

Also, be sure to concentrate on maintaining a good level of nutrition, and if it becomes too difficult to eat by mouth at some point, you may want to consider a PEG tube (I never had one, but many here could not have gotten through radiation without it).

Feel free to come back here often and ask as many questions as you need to to help you through these next few months.

Cathy