Hi Michael,
John's about a week ahead of you with the same dx except left tonsil. He too did not get Amiphostine. He experienced the same things you describe the first few days- had a terrible fear of vomiting at radiation but the techs calmed him and got him through it. He took a lot of Compazine but I think what really helped was extra Ativan those first few days. He couldn't think about eating and lost weight - we didn't get the Peg tube til 3 days after the chemo which I don't recommend since he was already weakened (our fault - they recommended it earlier). It really gets better - he adjusted to the Peg (the burps go away) and the chemo effects subside. We're enjoying just going to radiation (no side effects yet) before the next round. What's working for him now is 3 cans of tube feeding (jevity 1.2) through the Peg at night via a pump slowly (75 ccs/hr). He then doesn't feel as full and eats whatever he can during the day - mostly high fat fast food to up the calories. Just wanted to say hang in there - you will get relief.
Janet