Hi David,
My mom recently completed 31 IMRT tx's and 8 cycles of Erbitux. Tomorrow morning she will be having brachytherapy surgery, which means more radiation as it is internal.
At her last appointment with her medical oncologist he made a statement that has stayed with me since. He said, "If we feel we can cure the patient, we just about kill them with treatments." If we feel we can cure.... well, that was all he had to say to me to make sure my mom continued her battle. She has a fair amount of saliva still, hopefully this next course of action will not interfere with that. She is always walking around with her icy glass of water. Biotene makes a number of good products to help aid in that area.
As a primary caregiver to my mom, I can tell you that her quality of life is utmost important to me. It's not an easy position to be in, it is sometimes difficult to make her get up and get moving. She is tired, she's lost a lot of weight, no feeding tube, but she tries so very hard everyday. I admire her so much. I think Amy is correct in saying a lot depends on age and more so to me, on attitude. Many times that attitude has has been bolstered by me. It's hard to see your parent lying there exhausted from radiation, then pushing them to get up. Her doctors, MO, RO and surgeon, are all thrilled with how well the radiation worked. I'm praying that this surgery will have the same outcome.
Good luck to your dad,you and your family.
Donna