Tim, it was great to hear from you, and you sound like your doing good! I really hate to answer some of your questions because im going to guess im a rare case(compared to the others i have talked to)I never did take any pain meds while doing radiation or after treatment either. Now im not saying that 1 week after treatment my throat didnt hurt, cause it did, and i had the patch and the codine(breakthrough) ready the whole time during and after but, it just didnt seem that bad enough to take it, let me explain, i had my tonsils taken out before my rad.that is where they found the source is my right one, now that hurt like "hell" i stayed on the pain meds. all the first week, i didnt even wake up unless it was to take more pain medicine ( i have given birth to children and trust me, that didnt even compare, haha. So i cant help you on that question, but the mucous/phlegm OMG that is one of my biggest pain in the butt there is, i hate that alot. I will say it is getting a little better with week 2, but then again, i got thrush back in my mouth so that blew that right out of the water. I have been told that it will last for about 3-4 weeks, i cant wait until that goes away though. I will have to say, im proud of you for still drinking and eating, that is something i cant get myself to do yet...as im sure you have read my post! But i am going to try really hard this next week, and i will report next Tuesday anyother changes going on. Keep in touch and let me know your progress as well. Great talking to you!