Ann Marie,

I have no first-hand experience with chemo, so hopefully others will comment on that part of it. You don't actually "feel" anything during the radiation treatments -- what you eventually feel is the cumulative effect of multiple treatments (it's pretty typical to start having some side effects like strange taste and some burning on the skin after a couple of weeks, and mouth sores and swallowing problems at some point after that). After about the midpoint of radiation, you can become especially susceptible to thrush in your mouth, which is really painful, so it's important for your medical team to be on the lookout for that as well.

When the more severe effects show up, you feel less and less like eating, so it's important to try to stay ahead of the game and get plenty of nutrition and hydration while it's still relatively easy to do so.

Cathy