I just wanted to start a topic that focuses on radiation expiernces. I know I never thought at the beginning of the week I'd be fine and then the next day I couldn't talk with out being in severe pain.
What were your side effects? How long before they went away?

I also wouldn't mind some email buddies to talk to if anyone is up for that

The only side effect that I had was like a really bad sunburn. In time it went away.

My husband's first three weeks of radiation were uneventful. He was taking an anti-anxiety med an hour before Tx to help with the mask. So, he was tired from the start. By the 4th week, his mouth hurt, making swallowing painful. He had a PEG put in before Tx began and started using it in the 4th week. His skin was red like a bad sunburn, and had some hair loss on the back of his head (it grew back since). He had an open sore on his skin along his incision line. The remaining weeks, 5,6 and 7, were very tough. Increased mouth pain, increased fatigue, dry mouth, and thickened secretions persisted through the 4 weeks post radiation.

To handle the side effects, he was on gabapentin and Magic Mouthwash for mouth pain. My best to you as you get through this. You can do it!

Bill was working and fairly symptom free thru the third week. By Monday of the 4th week, he could not eat, was in pain and very tired all the time. Week 5 he contracted an infection and had to go into the hospital under strict quarantine..everyone had to mask before coming into his room because his blood counts were so low - he had no way to fight anything. Docs were never able to find where the infection came from but he recovered enough to finish his treatments the next week and actually by two weeks after treatment ended, he was off pain meds and eating by mouth.

So he had the worst time during treatment but recovered very quickly.

Just our experience. YMMV

My side effects were bad. The first 2 weeks were okay, and after that it went downhill. Sores in my mouth, difficulty swallowing and eating, everything tasted bad, loss of appetite, thickening of the saliva and then loss of saliva (which I have never gotten back), exhaustion, secretions in the throat that lasted long after the radiation ended. But, it does get better and you do heal. A year ago now I was in the middle or radiation, and I can't believe how good everything is now.

My side effects were pretty bad, too. At one point they had to stop radiation because my neck was so badly burnt. However, they gave me some cream, which helped, and I was able to complete my treatments. I never had too much trouble talking, but proper nutrition was also a problem. I ended up in the hospital after I had completed my treatments with an IV. That scared me enough that I started using my PEG more because I didn't want to have to go back to the hospital. Make sure you get enough nutrition and stay hydrated. At one time I felt so bad that I didn't even feel like getting dressed.

John, thank you for initiating this Topic. In February we had the very difficult decision on rads. Had ok margins from surgery, 1node contained, and Oncologists split advise on rads. One big missing piece was honest long term quality of life impacts. Dr's generally show worst case, everyone is different, yours probably won't be that bad. For a lot of folks this topic will really help. Thank you.

Every single person who goes thru this is going to have their own unique reactions to medications, treatments, etc. Some will sail right thru rads barely noticing anything more than being a bit fatigued. Others will struggle almost every day. One commonality I see in most patients is that 2 to 3 weeks after they finish radiation they finally begin to feel a little better. Nutrition and hydration are the key to having an easier time. I spent way too many days stuck in the hospital due to a lack of a caregiver helping me with my intake. I can only hope to spare others from that same fate by being a broken record about hydration and nutritional minimums every single day. It really will make a huge difference in how you feel.

John, by posting this topic here on the OCF forum, it has the potential to help hundreds of patients. It will remain here for years to come and show up in search engines all over the internet. This is why its so much better to have the responses noted on this thread than on a private email where no other patients can see it.

To be sure everyone's reaction to radiation is different. I completed my 7 weeks of radiation last May 27th. I'm doing very well now but it was NOT pleasant. You can read my blog (http://benscancerfight.blogspot.com) from about mid April until the end of May (plus a few weeks after) for a full play-by-play of my fun. But you WILL get through it. Good luck.

So far Im dealing with a dryer mouth, the inability to eat anything other boost shakes and drink anything other than water or aloe juice, my tongue has swollen quite a bit causing me to bite it and make gashes on the sides that I keep reopening.