Tom, I had no idea what to expect when my husband went thru this. Let me tell you upfront, its going to get alot worse before it gets better. BUT it does get better!! His cancer was a recurence and advanced. Floor of mouth, tonque, jaw and lymph nodes. He had surgery, got gangarene in the hospital 4 rounds of cysplatin, 8 weeks of radiation and a permenant feeding tube. He was so sick, I didn't know what to pray for. The chemo will make your wife VERY ill, demand drugs to control the nausea, DON'T wait for it to happen-take the drugs before the Chemo. The radiation will burn her chest and inside of her mouth. There are drugs to control this: magic mouth rinse, and silvadine for the burns. BE PROACTIVE. Its been a year and 6 months, Our "new Normal" is better than we ever expected. You will survive this!!