Okay, it is going to be rough. The radiation treatment was hard especially hard for me. The first two weeks will be okay, but then it will start to damage the lining in your mouth and throat. You are younger, so maybe you can get away without using a feeding tube, but I couldn't even drink protein shakes. I could barely drink water. So if you come to that point it's okay to get the feeding tube. It will keep you nourished so you can heal better. I had extreme pain mostly late at night when I was trying to sleep. You can use pain killers. I tried Tylenol and oxycodone, but they didn't work too good for me. If that is the case for you, try liquid morphine which helped me. The pain for me continued for about 3 months after treatment. After that it was just the irritation of sores in the mouth and extreme dry mouth and overbuild up of mucus in my sinuses and throat. I am 9 months past now and I don't have anymore extreme pain, just minor discomfort. I can eat soups, mashed potatoes, ice cream, pasta with light sauces, things like that. My ENT most people start to feel better 1 year after treatment and then go back to normal or almost normal two years post treatment. Everyone is a little different. You're young so you should have a good outcome and get through it relatively unscathed. Just hang in there. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.