Radiation Side Effect

Goodtimes,

        I'll try to answer your question by my own experience. I had 30 radiation treatments on the IMRT machine.

        The side efffects that I had were reddness of the neck, much like a bad sunburn. I used Keri lotion daily and often to keep from getting blisters and the skin cracking. I would use a bit of lotion as often as every hour and a half. The Nurses suggested 3 times a day, but I tend to over do things and it worked for me. If your neck gets too bad, they will stop the treatments and you will have to come back to finish up. Some people choose to not come back.

        Another side effect of the radiation was sores in my mouth and throat. Again the Nurses suggested a combination of 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a quart of room temperature water. This was to be used as a rinse/gargle solution to sooth the discomfort of the sores. 

        As I mentioned, I over do things as the 1 teaspoon wasn't doing it for me, I stepped it up to 1 tablespoon of each in the quart of water. It worked great for me, but by then my taste buds were shot anyway. I lost my taste roughly after the 4th treatment as the food was beginning to taste like cardboard. The solution semi numbed my mouth and throat and I would do this just before I ate also.

        Swelling is another side effect. The throat passageway will narrow and have sores and scar tissue after your final treatment. When eating, please take small bits until you are comfortable once again.

         My Best to You and Everyone Here

Hello,

  I am about 9 months out of radiation (36 doses) for Tonsil cancer.  I still suffer from lack of taste and reduced saliva.  Throat still gets soar and I can't swallow like I used to.  About the fourth week of radiation,I could no longer eat and had difficulty swallowing.  Thank goodness for the PEG tube!  However, things are very slowly improving.  I don't believe they will ever get back to pre-radiation levels, but it could happen.  One thing I do know is that TIME is a major player here and after reading many responses on this and other websites, no two patients are the same and neither are the results.  But one commonality is that things eventually get better than they were, one week, one day at a time.  Hang in there!!!