Cheryl,
I would like to add another comment about RT and the recovery time. Another poster here stated that "the worst if it is over in 7 weeks". That's not quite accurate. About 7 weeks is when you will finally start to see some improvement in your condition. Stated another way, at the end of 7 weeks you will start measuring your forward progress in three week increments for several months post Tx. The post Tx effects of the RT alone gone on for about 3 weeks. The general rule has always been that it takes one month of recovery for each week of radiation. I was in great health going into treatment and tried my best to defy the rule - not. Once again, this is not to discourage you and all of us respond differently to treatment but I am a firm believer in planning for the worst case scenario. It was a good 2 years until I was about 95% of where I was pre Tx. After 2 years, some collateral damage stared to appear in my fibrotic neck muscles, as a result of the radiation. I have muscle spasms fairly frequently as a result and others here have reported the same effects. My side effecrs have been relatively tame.