My husband eventually ended up having 110 grays, 70 the first time, then 20 grays twice. The 20 grays were delivered to his airway because he was developing nodes. The first time the RO said he could give 20 grays without affecting the spine. The second time we were told to carefully consider that he would be using up another of his "magic bullets" (he always used the analogy of having 5 magic bullets in his pocket). The point was that if John ever got to the point of needing some more radiation in a desperate situation, he might not have enough "bullets" left.

Incidentally, John got an NED three months after his initial treatment. Then four months later, he was found to have metastases in his lungs. The doctors concluded that it was a couple of stray tumor cells that got away. I am not mentioning this out of a meanness of spirit, but the possibility of recurrence is quite real. In the three years following the metastases, in all of John's MRI's (i cant even tell how many, there were so many) there were never any signs of disease in the primary site.