Radiation SUCKS! But it's doable. In the nutshell... you may only feel tightness and discomfort in the beginning. Nothing major it depends on whether you've had surgery. I could feel the scar tissue tightening from the outset other than that I didn't really have any issues until week 4. Things got bad. That's about the time you get a funky metallic taste, and then shortly after that foods just taste awful, then blessedly you lose all taste. It becomes hard to eat and swallow. At this point you will need to have either a PEG tube to get feeds, or some serious stamina. (I went the stamina route and FORCED myself to drink boost and eat). Thankfully I had minimal pain until the last few days of treatment (this is rarely the case) your mouth will blister, and burn, if you are fair skinned you may also blister and burn on the outside. You should rinse with salt/baking soda/water - or FLATTENED Club soda - which you can actually swallow (the baking soda mixture you have to spit out)keep your mouth as clean as possible. You may need pain meds and you should have a good cream for your neck area. The worst time during radiation is when it ends. The first two weeks following are extremely unpleasant. You will feel tired, and sore and all around crappy. Then slowly you will start to climb out of that hole.

If you are also getting chemo you may be nauseated. You also have to look for different symptoms - tingling in the hands and feet, and hearing loss if you are on cisplatin.

Compared to chemo and surgery... RADS sucks... but it could save your life. SO stay strong. and hugs.