Lois,
IMHO it sounds like they are going to hit this thing as hard as they can because they think he can take it. There has been older folks then Buzz go through this. One thing that has always amazed me is just how resilient the human body is. We have a built in will to survive.

His treatment plan doesn't sound much differemt than many far younger patients here have recieved so I am not sure that I agree with you that a "totally different regimen would have been recommended" if he had been younger.

Based on his staging and TMN, it sounds to me like a standard protocol for an aggresive treatment plan, right out of the NCCN Oncology Practice guidelines.

At least there is reason for hope - this is definitely not a palliative treatment plan..

It's a given that this will not be a walk in the park and there may be some very difficult days (regardless of his age). You can only fight the battles as they come - one day at a time. Try to stay focused on the "now" and not on what "would, should or could" be.

By the way, at 77 my dad re-roofed his house and was very physically active (practically killed me - he was like a mountain goat up there and carrying full bundles of asphalt shingles to boot). He passed away at 92 from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The very day he died - he said he was "going to beat it" - and he did.