Hello Onlychild and thanks for posting, 

I am very sorry to learn about your dad and can understand you wanting the best for him.   

Hopefully the RIG feeding will help and your dad's weight will plateaux and start to increase - and getting some proper nutrition in to him might help him to feel a bit stronger. 

The idea of any palliative treatment is to improve symptoms, so this is what the doctors are hoping for, but they can't guarantee the extent and duration of any benefit and treatments have side effects too that have to be factored into the decision. Radiotherapy can cause fatigue and it can also causes sore skin both on the outside and inside so the oesophagus can get inflamed. Radiotherapy can also cause nausea and sickness - medicines can be given that usually control these along with pain killers if the oesophagus becomes inflamed. It can take a little while (several weeks I believe) to get the full benefits from radiotherapy, but it can be worth putting up with any side effects if the cancer shrinks enough to make swallowing easier and reduce pain.

I expect the doctors have explained everything to your dad and it is his decision really. If he goes ahead with it, they will monitor him and try and manage any side effects that crop up. If a treatment is too much of a burden it can be stopped.

Having a treatment can be a palaver, but some patients welcome having something done as it can be a focus and help them to have a more positive outlook for a while.

If you are feeling uneasy about it, try and talk to someone in your dad's oncology team (your dad will need to give his permission first) and raise your concerns.   

I hope this helps, if you want to talk anything over please do give us a call, our number is 0808 800 4040 and we are around weekdays 9-5.

Best wishes,

Julia