Wayne, I've found the radiation MUCH easier than the PEG tube installation (2 of 'em) and the Chemo. Radiation goes quickly. Are you getting a face mask for radiation? If so, I found that it helps to ask them to cut holes out for your eyes so you can see the machine moving around. Makes the time go faster, and I just couldn't stand to have my eyes forced closed for the procedures.

I also decided (and got it approved) to use an OTC lower mouth guard to protect my tongue sides from squishing against my many fillings (because of the dumb bite stick they insist on using) and burning/blistering big time. Gauze pads just weren't cutting it. Both the doc and the techs are amazed at how that guard has cut way back on the damage. Check Long's Drugs by the toothpaste section, put out by Doctor's, it's a teeth-grinder night guard designed for upper, but you can use it on the lower just fine. Easy to self fit and worth the $25.99 in cost.

You might also try damp washcloths to put on the burned areas of your face/neck after radiation to calm some of the burn. I like Biafine-RE cream after a treatment and just before bed (deeply hydrates the skin to keep it from drying/blistering/infecting), but needs to be washed off and totally dried before each treatment. Says Rx only, but I ordered mine online with no Rx.

And I was told that the worse of the radiation side effects would ramp up until about week 4, then plateua, then taper off as you heal after treatments. Mine have never been bad enough to need the use of the PEG tube yet. Sometimes painful to swallow, so go for Barcus Solution (numbs, ask your doctor), soft cool foods like lukewarm cream soups, yogurt, frozen yogurt, and liquids like Ensure or Jevity or similar with protein powder.

I have tons of hope and increased emotional energy after having reached the halfway point in radiation. That's the easy treatment. Surgery is much worse, in my opinion, and chemo is no walk in the park.

You'll make it just fine!

Sharon