So take this with a grain of sand, I'm only 23 so that has probably helped me fair better than most people. I'm 6 weeks in to my chemo and radiation and I will be done on July 31, this Thursday. Things for me didn't start becoming a problem until this past week (wk 6). I don't really have dry mouth right now except at night but I do have a ton of excess mucus and saliva that I can constantly spitting out and trying not to gag on day and night. I have mouth ulcers, and I've had those off and on throughout the whole ordeal. It used to be one or two at a time and now I think I can count 6, along with very tender gums, and they're perfectly spread out to where it makes eating painful! The skin on my neck was great until this past week as well. It started getting splotchy and on Thursday it started peeling and has continued to do so and is starting to hurt. So if I'm laying down I take my pain pills and forget about the pain! Also, you might want to ask your doctor about some anxiety medicine. It will help make things a little less stressful. I take it in the morning before my treatment, because there is nothing pleasant about being strapped down in your mask for 30 minutes! It is not totally unbearable. There are tons of people who go through it, it's not pleasant, but you can do it! My best piece of advice is to not lose any weight. It will help make recovery faster (supposively, I'm not there yet)and it will make the side effects easier overall. And before you know it, you'll be done, just keep marking those days off the calendar!

As far as the stiff neck, my only recommendation is to get a good physical therapist. My ENT sent me to one 4 weeks out from my surgery and I've noticed a huge difference. I had to stop after week 5 of my radiation because my neck was getting too bad but I plan on going back as soon as I can to finish up. I had a bilateral neck dissection and the stiffness in my neck was annoying and I constantly felt like I was being choked. Also, my shoulders were really weak and I could not lift them out to the sides and that is getting better as well. It just takes time and working at it.