David,

I also had surgery and radiation without chemo (albeit many years ago). The radiation was XRT -- IMRT wasn't even an option back then. The first 2-3 weeks were tolerable, with some slight changes in taste buds and increasing sensitivity in my mouth. After that, things started to go downhill pretty rapidly for me, with mucositis, swallowing difficulties, hacking up "junk", and increasing amounts of fatigue. The one thing I really didn't have was nausea -- probably because I wasn't on very heavy duty pain medication and wasn't having chemo.

For the last few weeks of radiation and several weeks thereafter, I couldn't handle solid food -- diet basically consisted of Carnation Instant Breakfast with other things blended in, as well as baby food, creamy cereals, yogurt, ice cream, lukewarm soup, etc.

As you can see from many of the posts here, radiation effects continue on for weeks (or months) after the last treatment, so you need to be prepared for the fact that your body can't bounce right back. However, there are plenty of people here who can give you some extra support if you hit any bumps in the road along the way.

Cathy