I had 7 weeks of neck radiation. Actually everything from the bottom of my ears down to collar bones 360 degrees, mouth, throat, the lot. Was on cisplatin chemo as well. My skin was falling to pieces after week four. I had to have it all covered in burn gel, and gauze, and have dressings jigsaw puzzled all over.....no adhesives to my skin. These had to be redone four times a day. My bro stayed with me and done all my dressings. Apart from that, taste went, and everything tasted like shit. Had a feeding tube in stomach, but only used it for the last week and about a week after treatment. Skin healed really fast after treatment stopped. Two weeks after it looked like bran new babies skin. I don't grow any beard from just under jaw down, and the sides of face is sparse. My mo and goatee came back to normal.....except most grey hairs were no longer grey, original color again. Taste started to impove after about a month. Saliva went to about 25% at worst, now it's back to about 50% nearly a year later. Taste is probably around 80%. I developed lymphadema under jaw and down neck a bit. Slept with compression thing on at night and that stopped the fluid building up.......while upright I didn't get any build up. I done lymphatic massage couple times a day as well. I used a near infared light on my neck and jaw for a couple of months.....now I don't have lymphadema anymore. Skin is good, taste is good enough to enjoy food, saliva is enough that I don't suffer dry mouth, although I seem to have to sip water to get really dry things like crackers down comfortably. Had sore throat pretty bad for couple of months after treatment, used numbing liquid for that and that was good. Now just a slight hint of burning now and then at back of throat. Had numerous bouts of oral thrush and now gargle a few times a day with a mixture of bicard soda, salt, and apple cider vinegar in hot water. No more thrush. I do neck stretches daily, and mobility and flexibility is probably better now then at any time in my life. I had swollen saliva glands that I could feel for a long time, they have shrunk to almost normal now. I have mild aches and pains which come and go which on there own aren't severe enough to affect me but have a mental impact because they worry me that its cancer coming back. I've had one just under my right side of jaw going up to my ear for a few days now. I find the weird convoluted stretching exercises if invented make it ease up, so i figure it's a bit of fibrosis developing.
I take vitamin K2 and D3 and calcium together for bone health. I do resistance exercises for my neck muscles enough to pump them with blood, as well as stretching. And I use near infared light on the area for 15 mins per day. I do all this to minimize the chances of developing late onset side affects. I really don't feel, or like any different then before I had cancer. Apart from not growing any whiskers under my jaw. In fact I probably look and feel a bit better because I got my weight down and I'm exercising and eating better. I had 35 radiation treatments at high dose. So not everybody turns into a crippled wreck after radiation treatment. You're having much less......so fear not. xo
