Dad's journey with lung cancer

1 minute read time.

Well, he didn't expect to be here last Christmas and he's squeezed in another! Yes, he was (and still is) in hospital for most of it and he wasn't exactly dancing a jig but at least here was here.

Having been told this morning he wqas very ill, we have just seen him and he wasn't as bad as we expected. Turns out he has a nasty case of pneumonia - again, and an infection in his blood (markers have gone mfrom 100 to 400 today whilst on antibiotics). He has been put onto diamorphine now which I understand is stronger then oramorph & zomorph which he has been on for a good few months.

He was talking about being refused a drink in hospital because they were just waiting for him to die and has told us that this is the last ward he will be on before his funeral.... I am assuming this is a combination of drugs/infection/low oxygen sats.

I know there will come a point where the antibiotics will not work as he has been on them so long, he seems scared to go to sleep, he's just dozing in the bed and keeps "WAKING UP" startled.

We're just waiting to see if he can shake off the pneumonia, the nurse told us it would really take it out of a fit & healthy person and that as we know Dad is very ill.

Here's hoping I'll be raving about how well he's doing over the next few days.....

 

Shelle x

 

Anonymous
  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Well, Dad went into the hospice yesterday, it is a lovely place, so clean & comfortable and the staff are fantastic.

    After numerous calls to the hospital, lung function nurse, hospice, mac nurse I am told that Dad has not gone to the hospice for end of life care but for palliative care with regards to his breathlessness.

    I find this really hard to believe, we have watched him deteriorate, he's not eaten a meal for about a month, yesterday I watched him struggle to swallow half an orange segment and two paracetemol. He is on a nebuliser now, still on the zomorph, same dose as before but his mind is on it's way out. The hospital have said that this is probably down to the infection, I disagree, it must be the tumor in his head - if he still had an infection surely he would still be in the hospital?

    He was asking me the other day how I could drive the car without the hospital bed controls??!! He is telling us that he can see things moving about, he has seen our old dog walking the hospital ward numerous times and constantly stares into space.

    Anyone with experience of brain mets, your comments would be appreciated

    Shelle xx