I printed out a ton of things before he began his radiation (mostly things from the "I wish I knew then what I know now" section) so he would know what to expect and hopefully not make some of the mistakes other people did. I don't think he read much of it. It's aggravating..

The doctor talked to us about the problems he could have with his teeth after treatment and said it was dad's choice, but he also said he didn't think it would be a problem. So, hopefully he's right.

I have a question...If I could only make one appointment due to work, would it be more effective to go to the appt with the radiation dr or the the ENT? Who will give us more info on what to expect in the upcoming weeks/months? We were told the radiation doc is running the treatment so we haven't seen the ENT in a couple months, but I know he's seeing both of them in the next couple weeks. I've just taken a lot of time off work and I don't know if I can make both appts.

I printed out a lot of stuff, too. My son wasn't too keen on coming to this site because he said it depressed him. What I did was just leave the main stuff I thought would be helpful by his bedside for him to look at or not, whenever he felt like it. (I made sure it was just positive stuff) I could tell by his reaction later that he had looked at it and it helped. About the appointment, since you mention being the secondary caregiver, maybe you could check with the other caregiver and coordinate who sees which doctor? And then share information? How good it is that your Dad has such loving caregivers to help him through this.

[quote]the problem is, trying to convince him to do anything. If he doesn't hear it directly from the doctor, he doesn't really believe in it[/quote]
Be grateful that your Dad isn't being fooled by all the Internet fraud sites and the bogus cancer cure clinics they advertise.
Instead, type up some questions for him to ask his doctor:
1. Can you recommend a good prosthodontist or dentist with oncology expertise? Then make the appointment.
2. Would you please take a TSH level (thryoid) test ?
(radiation even now can mess up your energy level since it messes up your thyroid). Get the exact numbers as the lab test range is too broad. Also scour his medical records to see if he has even had a TSH test before since you want the numbers to be the same now as they were then.
3. Please write a prescription for swallowing & speech therapy. It will make a world of difference in his recovery
That will get him started on a much better recovery. It is amazing that you have to actually proactively ask many doctors for all of the above when it should be standard, but as you have found out, you must be your own advocate here.
Last but not least, let your Dad know that this advice is from someone just a few years younger than he is who has found all of that very helpful.
Charm