Hi Larry,

Fortunately, I never experienced burns to the degree you describe, but a fellow patient I became friendly with at Mass General developed such bad burns that he spent several days during his treatment in the burn unit, suffering from 2nd degree burns. Both sides of his neck were raw, open sores that constantly oozed.

Nonetheless, his doctors only postponed one treatment and urged him to press on to completion. He experienced his most severe burns during the last of his 8 and 1/2 weeks of radiation. His doctors did not seem surprised nor dismayed by the extent of his burns. I suspect that some people are much more sensitive to radiation than others, and theirs is a harder row to hoe. Best, Sheldon