Hi Anita,
My throat steadily improved post radiation and then at about 5+ months, I got hoarse and a sore throat, even some mild swallowing problems. It was like a regression backwards in time. It caused me a lot of consternation as well. Then I had an MRI that wasn't the greatest. It turns out that everything is fine and it might have just been a mild cold. I am also noticing things about my mouth that have probably been there for years but I am highly over sensitized to them now. It IS a constant battle to keep it all in perspective. The problems passed and on September 19th, I'll have 6 months. I'm feeling better everyday and my wife and I are starting to really enjoy each others company again and we are going out and doing things together, savoring each moment. You will have some bad days to be sure, I do, but thank God we get a new day each day and we can start fresh. Life really is a big unknown. We have no control over the future, so we just have each moment. There is life after treatment and it will be more precious than ever before. My main coping tool is prayer and surrender (which means to go over to the winning side). The serenity prayer in AA also helps me a lot "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Sometimes I just have to say it over and over and eventually I will be lifted out of the funk.

About radiologists findings and scans; My head and neck surgeon told me that their findings can vary a lot and if you are not in precisely the same position for subsequent scans, they can be misread because they always compare to the previous study. They can use scary terms like "thickening of the tongue", etc., which in reality may mean absolutely nothing. The gold standard is still the results of the visual exam by the Head & Neck surgeon. He's the one who pulls all the pieces together.