Radiation Rocks!

Mesh mask holds Graham's face down, to keep him from moving during radiation:





After a rocky start, the radiation therapy finally seems to be working. Graham's neck tumors are getting smaller. Phew!

Dr. Hancock amazingly got Graham started on a twice a day radiation schedule the very next day after Graham first met with him. Since Stanford is such a popular cancer center, all the machines tend to be booked, but somehow, Dr. Hancock managed to get Graham in.

After the first two treatments, Graham started to feel very bad. By Saturday night, he was running a fever, had no appetite, and no energy. We went to the Emergency Room because we thought he had an infection. They were very nice, ran lots of tests, but said there was no infection, he was fine, that the fever was likely just a result of the radiation doing its job. So we went home. But he continued to feel BAD.

On Monday, as soon as Dr. Hancock laid eyes on Graham's neck, which was very red and a little bubbly, he ordered Graham to get admitted into the hospital for IV antibiotics because he felt he had an infection either in his neck or on the skin of the neck. So apparently the ER doctors don't know squat about lymphoma or radiation.

Anyhow, after 24 hours of IV antibiotics, Graham was feeling better, though not great, and was allowed to go home with a bottle of oral antibiotics.

The next day, Dr. Hancock told Graham that he was worried because his tumors were not responding well enough to the radiation. Usually they "melt away" and Graham's were only very slightly getting smaller. So he upped the radiation doses and also arranged for Graham to get zapped over the weekend.

The good news is that we can now see a noticeable change in the tumors and Dr. Eastham (Hancock's Fellow, a new doctor) says that Graham has "turned a corner." Let's hope Dr. Hancock agrees when he sees him next!

Before radiation:

Graham's neck is really huge on both sides,
and the tumors have also puffed out his cheeks and under his chin.

After treatment, with Dr. Hancock:

The tumors on his right side are almost all the way down and the tumors on his left side are greatly reduced.