I suppose I can. I had my right lung and esophagus radiated every day for
about 36 days. As for the amount, I have no idea. Was I scared, sure was.
Did it hurt, nope. After the first trip it was a cake walk. Takes longer to
take off your clothes and get on the gown than the proceedure takes. All I
had when I finished was a round circle on my back that reminded me of a
target without the circles and lines. That needed some ointment to prevent
peeling, like a bad sunburn.
Hope this helps.

That depends a lot on where you are radiated.  I have SCLC, so they got me
in the chest area.  My esophagus was in the beam, so it got very irritated.
I envisioned it as similar to the "sunburn" on my chest.  It peaked the
week after my last RT.  Not a fun week. About all I could swallow without
pain was scrambled eggs and cold chocolate pudding. Could've been worse.

The biggest side effect (for me) was the fatigue. I couldn't walk 10 feet
without stopping to rest. That was true for the first round (chest/lung)
and the subsequent Whole Brain Radiation. The only positive thing I can say
about it is you will get better. Maybe not as soon as you want, but it will
pass. Took me about 4 months to get back to "normal"

Good luck and keep us posted.

Bob.

Dear Jackie,

I knew someone once named Jackie Davidson!  She worked in metals.  But,
I digress which is easy for me to do.  I would suggest that you tell us
what exactly your treatment is going to encompass.  In that way we can
better respond because threre are such a wide variety of cancers and
radiation treatments for them.
If you are dealing with head and neck cancer including things like the
tongue, tonsils, throat, and so forth you can look for posts by ipunt
(me) cause that's what I have and have been treated for for the past 5
weeks.  I have written the group about my experiences on a weekly
basis.
You do need to remember that everyone reponds to treatment differently,
so what you read is not set in stone by any means.  I hope this has
been helpful and I look forward to being whatever assistance I can
given I have an idea what your needs are.
Remember, we're all in this together!
ipunty

I had radiation to the throat, specifically the epiglottis. I needed
tranquilizers to withstand the mask they used to hold my head in place.
Other than that, I got a lumpy chin (lymphedema) and a little skin burn
that felt like sunburn after several treatments.