Gary, I am glad to hear that you are tolerating things well, though you may be on the cusp of the time and amount of radiation accumulation when things really start to get sore. Lets hope that the future goes as easily as the beginning. I am curious about the idea of putting cotton pads in your mouth to reduce radiation exposure. Personally I find this an unlikely way to prevent radiation, scatter or otherwise, from reaching the soft tissues. As an example, I offer this story...

When I was first starting to get nuked, I was concerned about the amount of radiation the rest of my body was receiving, in particular the family jewels. I mean, even when you go get a couple of x-rays at the dentist they put a lead apron on you to protect things, right? So on the day of my first encounter with nuclear medicine, I asked my radiation doctor and techs if I shouldn't have a lead apron on before they began each treatment. They said that given the about of radiation that I was going to get, that a lead apron would have about as much protective power as a Kleenex when it came to protection from the scatter radiation that was going to be bouncing around the treatment room with me. Just think about this, and the distance your privates are from your mouth and the radiation. The walls of the treatment room have 3 inches of lead in them and a foot of concrete to protect those in the area. Even low amounts of radiation go through bone to expose film and produce x-rays. What do you suppose a cotton ball is going to do? Just food for thought, and something you might ask your doctor to explain. When he does, I