And yep, mystery solved... he is part of a study... which he did volunteer for, just my mother and I didn’t know it. He’s the one that clued us in, since his cancer should be “curable” any ways, and since they decided to speed up the process, he figured what was the harm in possibly needing a few more weeks if his diet played any role. So it’s his “job” so to speak to scarf down as much protein and carbs as he can through treatment and they’ll compare it to others going through on the leaner more fiber filled diets. I’m guessing new research is questioning the effects of diet, and thus far seems to be actually working more in my dad’s favor.

He hasn’t had any weight loss, only just got the beginnings of thrush, no nausea or vomiting even after his 3rd chemo treatment, for all intents and purposes he is the picture of health, his counterpart who is in roughly the same boat as him in terms of discovery and size of tumor though only a few days ahead of him on treatment, still hasn’t recovered from thrush, and has lost a little over 10lbs, is greatly weakened and while both are receiving the same treatments and it’s having the same effect on the tumor, the other guy is battling constant nausea and vomiting and looking for all the world like a “cancer” patient and taking many more medications to combat the effects, while my dad is still walking back and forth to his appointments roughly a mile or so a day, eating well and not taking any medication beyond his treatments.

So they may be on to something, or it could just be my fathers red-headed immune system. They’re also going to be testing his DNA looking for cancer markers which is really cool as he’ll be part of cancer research for a long time to come yet. Coming right after being a unique case study after his cataract surgery where they restored sight to an eye that had been blind for 60+ years at least. Luck of the Irish

And my father's guinea pig status is still paying off, he has one more chemo treatment this upcoming week and will need 10 more radiation treatments following that so he'll be all done on the 22nd (my birthday ) and he has yet to take any pain medication, or even feel the need to. He's still eating like a horse (college frat boy horse, but a horse nonetheless) and has actually gained weight through his treatment, both in muscle and a little bit of fat . That he has gained pudge is shocking to the extreme since my father has always, always been the type to never gain an ounce no matter what he eats or does... lucky devil, couldn't pass those genes along .... Though the muscle mass is more from him walking, still walking... to his appointments. Which is far more active than he has been in probably 20 years.

And he has encouraged those staying at the lodge nearby his treatments to do the same, not quite so much for the diet, but the getting out and walking, it's just a few blocks to radiation from the lodge, it's just a few blocks over to the VA for the pharmacy and fluids, just a few blocks back to radiation, just a few blocks back to the lodge (those "few blocks" here there and everywhere though add up quickly through the course of the day though). I'm guessing my father missed his calling as a motivational speaker . Because even the people at the lodge are surprised at the number of people who are kind of following my folks out the door in the morning, or leaving shortly after and taking at least the morning stroll over to their doctor's office. They've had a few patients over the years decide it was just easier to walk than wait on shuttles, but never a "trend-setter" like my dad who has more than half the patients now walking to their doctors.

And on the whole, most of those that are walking (including the patient who's in a wheelchair and is being pushed to his doctor's appts) are doing better... so I guess there's something to be said for fresh air and exercise in going through cancer treatments, it's possible that has a much higher effect on it than diet. Though I guess it shouldn't be a revelation, since how long ago did the book Heidi come out? One sickly kid sent to the mountains, and one sent to bed... Mountain kid becomes healthy and strong, take the sickly bedridden kid to the mountains and same thing repeats... rather makes me question the wisdom of laying in bed when struck with a cold or flu Though even in the book, the bedridden kid was given broth and veggies, out in the mountains she was given fats and protein and high amounts of starch soooo....