He will get a lot more support when he has radiotherapy. There will be a range of medical professionals there and he'll see people every week day.

The mask. Some people look at them as if they're a prop from a horror film but really it's just an essential device to hold your head still and make the rays accurate. The procedure lasts 10 to 15 minutes. It's uncomfortable if you have to have a tongue depressor but otherwise the mask itself doesn't hurt. I used to go through a list of things I'd memorised to cope with the way the tongue depressor made my jaw ache.

What made radiotherapy tolerable for me was the friendliness and concern of the staff. I almost missed them when I finished.