Welcome here Apoorvamaniktala,
It saddens me to hear of your father's diagnosis.
It may be helpful to tell us the type of lung cancer your father has. There are two basic types: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell cancer has subtypes associated with it. The reason this is important is this site is for all lung cancer survivors but the treatment and treatment availability varies for types and subtypes. So folks here will be better able to assist you in understanding your father's treatments if we know the type. Here is some information to assist you in understanding lung cancer types: https://www.lungevity.org/about-lung-cancer/lung-cancer-101/types-of-lung-cancer
What kind of radiation treatment is your father having? There is standard external beam radiation therapy, and 3 newer methods of image guided radiation. I've had two of the methods - standard external beam radiation and stereotactic radiation. Here is a good resource to help you understand the types of radiation therapy: https://www.lungevity.org/about-lung-cancer/lung-cancer-101/treatment-options/radiation-therapy
My standard external beam radiation was performed over a period of 30 days. Each session took about 15 minutes from the time I entered the clinic till the treatment was complete. For the first 10 or so days, I experienced no discomfort. Then the skin on my chest became red, like a bad sunburn, and I developed a dry cough. My doctor gave me medication to assist with these problems. By about the 15th day, I started to feel very tired after each treatment. I felt like treatments were reducing my energy levels. During my last 5 treatments, I spent much of my time in bed because I was very tired. I quickly recovered my energy level and returned to normal after treatment was over.
My stereotactic radiation was only 3 days long but each treatment was about a half hour long. I experience no side effects from this radiation at all.
I hope your father's treatments are progressing well. Feel free to ask any further questions.
Stay the course.
Tom
