Jean,

My husband came within 5 pounds of medically needing a PEG tube. I'm not sure if the two weeks post treatment were tougher on him or me. Watching someone whither away is terrifying.

Even though the docs gave him the impression that it was his call, they would have intervened if his weight hit a certain point. Although, they were relying on me to provide daily weigh ins.

Regarding the sore neck, if you look at the icons by the date...and, if you send me an e-mail address I can show you a pretty amazing before and after picture. There was a point in time that I thought my husband would carry his RT scar for life. It is truly amazing how the body can heal itself.

For the sore, we used a saline soak and aquafor. We had an rx too, but that didn't work as well. Although, everyone is different.

I took pics throughout my husband's recovery, sometimes he needed some visual reminders that he was indeed making great progress.

The first 2 weeks post treatment were extremely traumatic. One of those weeks, his primary input was IV fluids.

I wasn't so gentle with the reminders. Your brother should have daily fluid and calorie goals set by his medical team. When my husband's mouth was really bad, his docs eased up on the calories for a week, although they also arranged for home health care to give him IV fluids and to monitor him daily.

IMRT is explained more on the main part of this site. You can put in a search for it. When most people refer to RT here and they've been treated within the past few years they are likely referring to IMRT.

Good luck!