Hi there,
So sorry to hear about your dad. Sounds like you're living a similar situation to us. My Mother in Law was diagnosed with stomach cancer on June 25th. It's been a bit of a whirlwind and lots of unanswered questions since then.
So far, she had the usual battery of diagnotic tests, and last wednesday had 3/4 of her stomach removed, several lymph nodes and some of her large intestines. I was told today that she has been diagnosed as stage IV. She will be undergoing chemo therapy and radiation treatment and has already had her first consult with her oncologist. We're unsure at this point really, what the overall picture is. I gather they will also be doing a PET scan to see if there is any metastisis elsewhere (that were not detected during her surgery).
She is in otherwise good health and is a strong lady who has always taken good care of herself. While secretly, I don't believe that she will 'beat' this, I do think she will be a fighter and may have some time left. I am just hopeful that she doesn't spend what time she has left, suffering through debilitating therapy treatments that will decrease her quality of life and will not significantly improve her outcome. (The vote is still out on the latter comment.... I am certainly not suggesting that she not receive treatment that will help her or may provide relief and will prolong her life, if she is able to enjoy it...)
I don't know if any of this has helped you at all...but my advice is to seek more IMMEDIATE help for your dad than 6 weeks. That's a long time to wait to determine what your path/protocol will be. It may not change the start date (we were told my MIL will need to recouperate at home for 4-6 weeks before chemo can begin) but at least you won't be waiting all that time just to begin to put the pieces together in your heads and to get some sort of picture of where your dad is now.
Good luck to you and your dad!
cyndi