Sheryl, the reason I asked was that I was given to understand that 70 grays is the lifetime maximum for that particular area. With the two later, shorter radiation treatments, each time the RO made a point of saying that he would try and spare the spine in addition to his five bullets analogy. So, knowing how many grays Charles has had is important.

When John's mets were diagnosed, the CT report said that the lesions had the "classic, seed like appearance." That was how the RO knew it was cancer.

If a referral has been made, surely your surgeon has sent over Charles's medical history. Can you find out if that's the case? If not, it might be worth your while to get copies from his doctor from 2001.

I found that I needed to have all the facts clear so that I could tell the doctors what treatments John had had, when, where and how much. It sounds absurd but not all the doctors read all the paperwork even if it has been sent. Each time John ended up in the ER or was referred to yet another specialist, we got asked the same questions about his treatment history. At some point, after he started to lose his strength, John would lose the narrative and it was up to me to talk about things with the doctors.