Base of tongue cancer, also removed from one lymph node 4.8 cm. 30 radiation treatments. One every weekday for six straight weeks.

CHECKING IN AFTER COMPLETION OF WEEK 2 (10 radiation treatments)

I will call this this end-of-week-two report "Winter is Coming" - At end of week two this is what I am experiencing:

* A bit of pain on the base of my tongue - The 9 Gabapentin pills I take every day may be helping with the pain (no other pain killers being taken), but I wouldn't know how to know if it really is or not
* Very little pain in my throat
* Pain on my gum line, but most likely due to the dental mouth guard pushing into my gums (that does not stop radiation, so I am not even sure why I am using it)
* Despite what my doctors might think Lidocaine Viscous does not reach base of tongue and does not work for pain back there
* No issues chewing
* No issues swallowing
* Lost ability to taste most things sometime during week 2 - chicken and shrimp tastes like cardboard
* One tooth aches, not sure why
* Still kind of freak out inside my head every time the mask is lowered over my face (especially as I hear those 8 bolts click my head into place)
* Mask still feels too tight and leaves marks on my face (they are barely letting me catch a break there)
* Primary radiation therapist is still not very nice (think "Nurse Ratched")
* I feel a bit more fatigued but cannot tell if that is the Gabapentin or the radiation
* Headaches most every day, not sure why (Gabapentin or radiation?)
* Just starting to have to clear my throat
* Nauseous after the 9th treatment, but that was the only one, so not sure why
* I have this new "fascination" on how a person has died. Lately, EVERYTIME I here about a famous (or semi-famous) person dying early I find myself Googling "How did that person die?".

Bottom line: I KNOW that something is coming, something kind of big - how i know this is that is I can feel the pain getting worse, day by day, in my tongue. I have no doubt that there is a big sore brewing there, and if this is how it feels now (a 2 on the 1 to 10 pain scale), I cannot imagine how it feels after 4 more weeks. Why did I call this summary "Winter is coming"? Because that growing pain in my tongue is a hint that things will get darker before they get light again.

So, that is my experience two weeks post radiation...