ArtsieSteph's dad's cancer superthread

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Miri

Guest
#521
#521
Maybe it will be good for him to be at home once he adjusts back.

The thing is in hospital you are just a patient, so you act like a patient,
become a patient, think like a patient.

At home you can be a person again.

It might take a while for him to realise he is still a person.

I know with my aunt whenever she comes home from hospital she still
acts like she is in hospital for a few weeks. Seeks permission to get out
of bed, go to bathroom, get dressed etc. Then after a while it sort of
clicks that she doesn’t have to ask permission any more. She still needs
help but it’s on her terms rather than hospital terms.

Show you dad he still had worth and is still useful as a human being.
Maybe he can help do little things when he feels a bit better. Even if it’s
just peeling potatoes, planning the grocery shopping what is needed etc.

Things that help to ground him back to every day life.
 
P

pottersclay

Guest
#522
#522
Miri said:
Maybe it will be good for him to be at home once he adjusts back.

The thing is in hospital you are just a patient, so you act like a patient,
become a patient, think like a patient.

At home you can be a person again.

It might take a while for him to realise he is still a person.

I know with my aunt whenever she comes home from hospital she still
acts like she is in hospital for a few weeks. Seeks permission to get out
of bed, go to bathroom, get dressed etc. Then after a while it sort of
clicks that she doesn’t have to ask permission any more. She still needs
help but it’s on her terms rather than hospital terms.

Show you dad he still had worth and is still useful as a human being.
Maybe he can help do little things when he feels a bit better. Even if it’s
just peeling potatoes, planning the grocery shopping what is needed etc.

Things that help to ground him back to every day life.
Click to expand...
Miri right Steph....I think we covered this a while back:rolleyes:
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#523
Apr 1, 2014
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#523
Big break through emotionally for dad. He was getting numb feeling he said, crying only for himself. Today he said he was crying for mom. That was the first time in like months.
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#524
Apr 1, 2014
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#524
Daddy is having more and more issues eating. He’s been unintentionally doing a lot of negative reinforcements and he can’t help it. We had these shakes forever, and he started throwing them up. Put them in yogurt and that worked for several days, now h s throwing them up. We’ve been trying to keep him on a shedule which we use a timer for. Timer went off today and that made him throw up. Just the sound.

Honestly I know that I’ve had times where I got sick off a good and cannot eat it again. Sadly it seems like that keeps happening. And I don’t know what to do.
 
blue_ladybug

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
#525
Feb 21, 2014
70,869
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#525
To state the obvious (LOL), keeping daddy on a schedule isn't going to keep him from throwing up. It's more than likely due to all the stress his body is under right now. Can he eat solid foods, or only liquids? The body gets uppity if you give it too much of only one food. Trust me, I been there, done that.. lol
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#526
Apr 1, 2014
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#526
He’s been eating a mixture a both, the problem is he gets backed up at night and usually ends up puking at least once a day. Trying to minimize that with liquid doesn’t seem to help much it seems...
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#527
#527
I hate to say this but can they get nutrition in him through an IV?
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#531
Apr 1, 2014
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Sadly he just threw again. And please pray for my mom cuz she keeps telling him “you’re gonna have to do something” like it’s his fault.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#532
#532
No, like he knows it can't keep going like that.
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#533
Apr 1, 2014
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#533
So does she. I think she’s upset it’s happening and unintentionally focuses it on him.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#534
#534
When John was being tube fed, everything was working properly for a while. And then he started vomiting right after, if not downright during, being fed. The first thing they decided to do to elevate that was to stop feeding him. (Still livid that was their decision. "Well, gee whiz. If he's going to go off and vomit, then we just won't feed him. Where can that possibly go wrong?" Ummm, he's not getting his nutritional needs met, you morons, you! :mad:) A day or two later, they'd start feeding him again. And he'd throw up again.

It got to the point that he was trying to hide the fact that he was vomiting. Now, obviously, if you're being fed through a tube, it's not about enjoying the food. (That food looks hideous. lol) Every time they took him off food, he'd get weaker, and he could feel it. But every time he got caught puking, (and it was to the point I'd try and help him hide it by dumping the puke ASAP), they'd take him off food for another day or two.

This went on for three weeks, before someone noticed correlation. Feeding-tube food all looks the same, but it's not made the same. They had switched types three weeks earlier. Simple solution. Switch him back. (And that happened twice, but at least the second time it happened, we could ask if they switched it out, and they figured out they did. So, they switched him back, instead of withheld food.)

Your dad is getting sick from food he has been eating for a while now. This is causing quite a few things to happen at the same time:
1. Vomiting blows! He hates vomiting. It taste lousy, it hurts to vomit, it doesn't help keep the right nutrition in him, and there is absolutely no good thing that comes from vomiting.
2. Even when he's not vomiting, he's worried about vomiting -- how it affects him, how it affects his family, and what can it mean. So, not only is he vomiting, he's worrying about vomiting.
3. You're worried about him vomiting, your mom is worried about him vomiting, and you're all trying to figure out what does it mean.

All that does is swirl around into madness, and, yes, more vomiting. There's one thing you all have to face. "What does that mean?"

And if there is an answer, there are only two ways of finding out that answer.
1. Ask his doctor.
2. Do the research online to see what causes vomiting for someone who has stomach cancer.

I seriously recommend both. It sounds like everyone is stuck on not finding out why. And I don't blame you for not wanting to know, because the same answer is coming to me too.

BUT, all this time, there is a slim possibility it can be the other answer. The answer you fear is this is just one more step he has to go through before he dies. And that might well be the truth. But the other answer can be something as simple as sometimes that drink does not settle into a patient's stomach while taking this particular medication, so try something else. OR it could be another answer no one would guess except for someone who has been doing this kind of thing for a long time -- his doctor.

I'd rather know, so he doesn't have to vomit, if there is another choice. Meanwhile, he really needs a lot of nutritional help, because his body is fighting cancer and now has to rebuild after part of his stomach was taken out along with that tumor.

We can't live but so many days without nutrition. He's in a weakened state, therefore he needs nutrition even more than we do.
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#535
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If he gets a tube it will actually be below how stomach in his lower intestines to actually go past the problem area. He actually doesn’t taste a thing but he isn’t hungry. He just hates it. Hates. And they want him to get an upper GI to see what he needs to do, but he is worried he won’t survive being put under.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#536
#536
ArtsieSteph said:
If he gets a tube it will actually be below how stomach in his lower intestines to actually go past the problem area. He actually doesn’t taste a thing but he isn’t hungry. He just hates it. Hates. And they want him to get an upper GI to see what he needs to do, but he is worried he won’t survive being put under.
Click to expand...
There are two types of "under." There is under, like with surgery, and then under for GI looking purposes. The one for surgery is so deep, someone could roll you off the bed and clear out the front door of the hospital, and you wouldn't notice. The other one is so light, sometimes people remember what happened. (One in ten times.) It's called "a light sleep."

I've had lots of GI procedures done on me, (eight times down the throat, let's not even talk about the ninth time they went up, instead of down. :rolleyes:), six with "light sleep," twice fully under. (And the only reason they put me fully under is because I live on pain meds, so they thought I'd be resistant to light.) The closest I have for remembering what happened next was they put the brace in my mouth. (Not really sure that's what it's called, but basically something the tube/hose/long-machine-that-takes-pictures goes through, so I don't bite down on it.) Still, I could tell the difference between light sleep and totally under. You know how you're not allowed to eat or drink anything from midnight until after the procedure? Yeah, well, apparently that dehydrates, and the hose-thingy sticks to the esophagus, if we're dehydrated, so they give 1-2 IVs of fluid before they start. "Light sleep" meant I was still in control of my bladder. Totally under meant "flooding." (I'm so embarrassed telling this, but thought your dad would appreciate knowing.)

The second time, I was smart enough to wear an adult diaper. :eek:

Let him know he still is in control of bodily functions, in light sleep. Hopefully, he'll get the difference and not worry too much.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#537
#537
As for hating the stuff he's drinking. I would too. Have him talk to his doctor about something called "Thicken It!" It is a drink, but thickened. Most importantly, it's like thick Hawaiian Punch, not like dairy creamer. Clear, instead of creamy coated. The only reason I think his doctor might not approve is because it's not known for having protein in it, and he really needs protein! (Some of the types include vitamins.)

But, that's fixable, because protein powder can be added to it.

There might be a connection for him to do with lactose intolerance. I can't drink anything like he's been drinking because it just reminds me of milk, and would make me sick thinking about it. It's that slippery texture that does it too me -- creamy. If they can cut out "creamy," at least he has choice in what to eat/drink.
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#538
Apr 1, 2014
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Hmmmm....I’ll have to see about the thicken it. I’ve heard of it but never saw.
 
ArtsieSteph

ArtsieSteph

Senior Member
#539
Apr 1, 2014
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I asked about the thicken up, he said he didn’t want anything too thick because with his stomach being sorta closed as it is.

But for right now, if it hasn’t been done already, just need prayer for dad especially today. He has a possible infusion of keytruda which is his cancer drug that he hasn’t been able to take for weeks. So hoping he can and he doesn’t get another infection from it. It honestly may kill him.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#540
#540
ArtsieSteph said:
I asked about the thicken up, he said he didn’t want anything too thick because with his stomach being sorta closed as it is.

But for right now, if it hasn’t been done already, just need prayer for dad especially today. He has a possible infusion of keytruda which is his cancer drug that he hasn’t been able to take for weeks. So hoping he can and he doesn’t get another infection from it. It honestly may kill him.
Click to expand...
I don't understand. Why hasn't he be given Keytruda in weeks, and how does he get it? Did they think that caused his infection? Because, as I recall he had fluid retention/possible infection before he went on Keytruda.

(Oh, and Thicken It isn't any thicker than Ensure. The only reason I suggested it, is because if the thickest substance he can handle is Ensure, at least it might give him a sense of "eating" something, rather than drinking food. And some Thicken it's have nutrients in it. I was mostly thinking how to get nutrients into him, that come the closes to feeling the satisfaction of "food," rather than stuck with drinking is food.)
 
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