Mary, welcome. I'm sorry to hear you have to battle the beast again, but this is the right place to get your questions answered.

The radiation can and likely will be rough. For me, it was worse than the 17 hours of surgery I had. I think a lot of that has to do with the time. Surgery is one day, and then you start feeling better almost immediately. Radiation reverses that, you start out O.K., and then get sicker and sicker. Even after it ends, you keep going downhill for a couple of weeks after treatment ends.

A few suggestions; Nutrition, hydration and pain management...deal with each one of these things every day, and do it effectively.

A PEG or a nasal tube helps with the nutrition. Your throat will likely be too sore to swallow and you wont taste anything anyway.

Drink LOTS of water. If you get dehydrated you will be sick, very quickly. I think you need to try and drink it as opposed to using the PEG, just to maintain your swallowing.

Pain needs to be managed aggresively. I didn't use morphine post surgery, and I had a lot of surgery. I did use it for a log time during radiation, and for quite a while after. Don't be afraid to ask your doctor for the pain meds you need.

Lastly, keep coming back here. We've all been there, and we'll all be there for you to lean on
Wayne