Petey, There is nothing to despair of yet. They caught those nodes right when your treatment was starting so now you're getting the full treatment which is great! The chemo makes the radiation work better so in a way, if you have to go through all the misery of radaition, don't you want to maximize the likelihood that it works? Well--thanks to now getting chemo, you are!

When I was treated I was in this kind of grey area but I elected to have chemo(in my case I was really given a choice--which I suspect happens less these days since they have rewritten the guidelines). My reasoning was that from everything I'd read, radiation was going to make me pretty miserable anyway and so adding chemo wouldn't really make things that much worse. I'll never know how true that was because I don't know how I would have responded to just rad. alone, but going through with both is very very do-able. Not pleasant, but do-able. You just take one day at a time....

You'll probably feel better once you get through the first chemo and know what to expect. And we'll be here to listen when you need us!

Nelie