Tomorrow I am taking my Mum and Dad back up to St Georges to the Oncology Dept to find out the results of my Dads biopsy and I am dreading it.
Before Christmas Dad was having trouble breathing and a bad cough. He had x-rays, scans, blood tests, a broncoscopy that wasn't very successful. Eventually my husband took him up to St Georges where he had his pleural effusion drained (2.5. litres) - he was so much better after this as he could breath properly again. Unfortunately it was short lived and the fluid built up again and two weeks later I was taking him up to St Georges where he had it drained again this time via a catheter type tube (2 litres). We found out after they had eventually got the results of the fluid samples back that Dad has a cancer on his upper left lung which has spread to the lining of his lung and is not curable. He stayed in hospital whilst the fluid finished draining and eventually had the tube removed. On the Thursday he had a VATS chemical pleurodesis under general anaesthetic which we were worried about because of his age (86!) they took a biopsy sample at the same time.
The after effects of the anaesthetic & morphine seemed to take a while (three days!) to get out of his system and he was singing and a bit disorientated. After having a catheter put in (as he wasn't able to wee) he was a lot better. The drainage tube and then the catheter were removed and he was allowed home on the Sunday.
I looked after him all last week as my Mum had to go up to St Georges herself from 9 - 6 everyday which she has to do every three weeks. He slept a lot in the daytime and didn't eat very much as he said that everything tasted or felt like chewing cardboard in his mouth. I gave him small amounts of soft food to eat often and each day he was feeling a little better. A lot of talking in his naps and waving around of hands - I put this down to the anaesthetic etc. He also still has the cough and finds it difficult to swallow.
I am very grateful that I have had this one to one time with my Dad - it was a lovely day on Wednesday and so I took him to his allotment where he had a cup of tea with his friends and was able to sit in the warm sunshine for a while. On Thursday I took him to get a hair cut which made him feel much better and then to the Drs to have his stitch taken out. He chatted to the Dr about treatment etc and this put him at ease. Unfortunately my cousin (Dads Godson) passed away on Thursday in a hospice at the age of 54 and I had to break the news to Dad - he is at peace now Dad said.
