Hi Laurie,

I'm another that had a relatively easy time with the radiation. I had 70 gys over 40 applications, augmented by three applications of Cisplatin. I suspect that you'll have the same, or a very similar experience. BTW, may I strongly suggest that you read my intro, the URL in at the top of my sig.

At the time I was doing this, I was also full-time caregiver to my 88 year-old maiden aunt, who never knew because I knew it would freak her out to know that her fate was in the hands of a guy with stage IV cancer.

You will lose your sense of taste for a while. The loss will be sudden and complete. I was just about to eat a bowl of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (my fav,) until I took the first bite, which I promptly spit out. It was exactly like frozen poster-paste! But that wasn't the worst, which care a week or so later as I was about to eat a chicken breast.

My radiation was to eliminate 4 tumors (all in lymph nodes) and resulted in burning out about 50% of my salivary glands, and customizing the remaining ones so that they would produce a super-thick substance with the holding power of super-glue.

So, I take bit of chicken breast and proceed to chew it as usual. Uh-oh...
the dry (the primary characteristic of chicken breast is DRY) chicken breast immediately acting like a sponge, sucking every atom of moisture out of my mouth; while the saliva acting like super-glue, immediately glued every one of the chicken-sawdust particles to a different spot in my mouth.

Acting swiftly, I got a glass of hot water and swished it vigorously around in my mouth (I can still hear that chicken sneering derisively and asking "is THAT all you got, sonny?") with no discernable impact. I had to stand there and use a finger to peel each and every one of those tiny hunks of chicken out my mouth.

The most unpleasant part of the experience was the 25 mile drive each way to get the radiation, as I was so nauseated that I had to constantly be on the look out for a place to pull over and hurl. Fortunately, I never did, but it felt that way.

Anyway, that was the worst of it for me, others had a much worse time with the radiation; but amazingly, I never even had my skin get red - and it burned out those tumors, for sure!

I suspect that you will have an experience much like mine; unpleasant but not horrific. And the best part is that when it's over, the nausea soon quits, your appetite returns and all is good, once again. Don't worry about it, it'll soon just be a memory.

Good luck,

Bart

Last edited by Bart; 04-08-2014 02:17 PM.

My intro: http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbt...3644#Post163644

09/09 - Dx OC Stg IV
10/09 - Chemo/3 Cisplatin, 40 rad
11/09 - PET CLEAN
07/11 - Dx Stage IV C. (Liver)
06/12 - PET CLEAN
09/12 - PET Dist Met (Liver)
04/13 - PET CLEAN
06/13 - PET Dist Met (Liver + 1 lymph node)
10/13 - PET - Xeloda ineffective
11/13 - Liver packed w/ SIRI-Spheres
02/14 - PET - Siri-Spheres effective, 4cm tumor in lymph-node
03/15 - Begin 15 Rads
03/24 - Final Rad! Woot!
7/27/14 Bart passed away. RIP!