Thanks KristenS, I appreciate the information. I took a brief look at in on Wikipedia and there are quite a number of possible side effects so it sounds like a good choice to decline. I take high blood pressure medication now, so if I quit that in compensation I would not be to worried about my blood pressure getting to low. When it comes time for a radiation discussion I'll have to ask the oncologist about Ethyol and see what he says. If it was a no-brainer I am sure it would be standard protocol to give it to everyone, so there must be drawbacks. My saliva output has recovered pretty nicely from the first round, although it's taken the better part of a year to do so. Maybe the ol' salivary glands have enough bounce to come back from a second round.