hi, today I go for radiation treatment 20 of 35. I'm getting XRT because of the size of the field (not strictly being an oral cancer, my tumor originated in the supraglottal part of my larynx but then spread up my pharynx with some small base of tongue involvement). They gave me an induction round of chemo alone before they started the radiation (since surgery wasn't an option) and that seems to have exacerbated some of the effects of the radiation (which is exacerbated further by the fact that I'm getting some chemo during the radiation round as well). At this point, the side effects are limited to my ability to swallow; my skin is holding up quite well and I've had nothing like the nausea and other nasties I've read elsewhere). I would voice one word of caution on the nurses; one of them told me that in her experience you didn't always need a feeding tube which made me think I could work to avoid it (that somehow the avoidance was within my power). Well, I was eating and drinking pretty well up to the weekend after treatment 14 and then all hell broke loose -- the pain in my throat accelerated and I woke one morning suddenly unable to swallow anything beyond tiny sips. One week later and my feeding tube in in place after four days in the hospital (my feeding tube installation wasn't simple because of surgery I had when I was 8 years old (!!!!) to repair a hernia caused by a congenital weakness in the stomach wall -- you should have seen the gastroenterologist's eyes bug out when he saw where the scar was).

But I'm doing fine, and while my feeding tube thing was a bit hectic, it all worked out for the best. I gained back all the weight I lost the days I couldn't eat (they have me on Ultracal for the feedings). Good luck with the rest of your treatment; I'm working on the assumption that the rest of mine will go smoothly as well.

Cheers,
Laura