Radiation Treatments begin for Dad

Dad met with the radiation oncologist at Ridges in Burnsville yesterday. She recommended 15 radiation treatments and he began his first one yesterday. He'll finish up on October 3 barring any problems along the way. Treatments will be at 10:40am each day Monday through Friday. She explained the best possible outcome would be to shrink the tumors as much as possible and have dad regain some of the coordination and short term memory he lost as a result of the swelling caused by the tumors. She will slowly taper off the medication he is on that was treating the swelling. (Thank goodness for that as this medication makes him restless, irritable and hyper. He's like a kid on caffeine who can't sit still) The largest tumor is 4cm (1 1/2 inches) and the others are quite small. We looked at the MRI films and there is no doubt that the tumors are there. It is quite startling to see them like that. The radiation treatments are not painful and only take about 15 minutes which includes getting set up and on the table, radiating the tumors and then getting off the table. He said "no big deal" yesterday when asked how it was. There will likely be some fatigue as the treatments progress. He still can't drive during this process. He may experience some sores in his mouth and loss of appetite but she wants him to eat as much as possible and try to maintain his weight. He is still down about 15 pounds from when he first got sick. SO, the immediate task at hand is to get through the treatments and then see what the results are. They MIGHT be able to get to Arizona sometime at the end of October. Any plans are on hold right now until they see how these treatments work out. Dad says he IS going so we may have to hog tie him until the Dr. gives him the ok to travel. And if all of this isn't enough activiy they are in the process of trading cars. Mom wants something that is easier for her to drive and dad still thinks he is 18 and wants a sporty car. I'll let you know how that debate turns out. Right now they are looking at a Ford Escape. I'll post again on Monday and let you know how the weekend goes. Root for the Twins cause he gets pretty crabby when they lose.