Colleen, This sounds like an incredibly hard and confusing time for you, your brother and sister-in-law and the rest of the family. I'm so sorry. The thing about "time for hospice" is that no one really knows for sure. Its a doctor thinking that he is *likely* to have 6 months or less to live. That's all.

That doesn't mean that there may not still be treatments that can ease his symptoms or give him a little more time. Radiation can sometimes be used as palliative treatment and I think someone needs to be asking if that is why it is recommended. Same for the chemo. What I would want to know is what are the advantages of having radiation and chemo at this point? Is it being recommended because there is a chance of remission of his disease or is it just goung to maybe slow it down? If it's the latter, how MUCH does it slow the progression down on the average and what are the side effects he will be experienceing in exchange for the time it buys or MIGHT buy?

Personally, I would not want to go through more radiation or chemo unless I knew it would probably add some good quality time to my life. If it only adds a month or two, on average, and might make me really sick, I realy wouldn't be interested. But we all make our own choices at this point. Some people want to fight as hard as they can for absolutely as long as they can. But good decisions can't be made unless he gets those questions answered.

Nelie