4 to go

Billy did fairly well for the first 2 weeks of radiation. He tries to work for a few hours, then he drives himself to the hospital. He usually sounds OK afterwards, but as the evening progresses he has a harder time. His throat feels like the worst case of Strep imaginable. He has been able to eat, but not much. As the days have gone by it has become more and more difficult for him to swallow. He had gained some of his weight back before it began, then in the first week he dropped 6lbs. The doctor, nurse and nutritionist sat him down for a little intervention. They told him he had one week to put a little more weight on, or the feeding tube was going in. That didn't go over very well. He did gain 2 lbs, but hasn't been weighed this week yet. The last few days he has been having problems breathing. He is winded and cant catch his breath. It feels as though there is a great pressure on his chest making it difficult to breath.
He forces himself to take the dogs every morning to the park, so he can use that as a form of exercise. That has been very difficult also. Yesterday he wasn't even able to get out of bed, and I took the dogs. He of course, was not happy.
He is doing his best and we are carrying on as normal as possible, getting closer to that light at the end of this dark tunnel.