Hi,
I am writing as my way to try to deal with my anxiety about my husband. Over the past couple of weeks he seems different. He is sleeping nearly all the time. He is having more swelling in his legs, arms and face, mostly on the left side of his body. Dr. and DN say it is lymphoedema which may or may not be linked to his metastatic prostate cancer. I do know that his cancer has spread to his lymph nodes, so the swelling might be part of that.
His speech is often slow and his cognitive responses are slow. He keeps saying that he feels as though he is nearing the end of his life but that he doesn’t want to go yet. I’m feeling lost and confused. Medics aren’t much help as they say that because of the manner of his diagnosis….he just stopped being able to walk or control his bodily functions one day…went to hospital and three days later was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and spinal cord compression, bone cancer and lymph node cancer. They don’t know for how long prior to diagnosis that he has had the disease, could be years or months.
I think it is more than likely years as he had difficulty walking and lots of bone pain for years but put it down to getting older. My husband is now 82 years old.
I am scared for him and concerned that I have no idea how to help him through this. I keep asking for a palliative nurse to come to see him but DN and GP aren’t listening to me. My husband says he is coping and ok when they ask him.
there has been talk of sending back to hospital for assessment but my husband suffered severe trauma during his last hospital stay and can’t cope with the idea of going back there.
praying is helping but prayers are not being answered quickly enough for him to feel comfortable and safe. I’m feeling distraught and incompetent because I am usually good at helping people but I just can’t do anything to help my husband feel better. Please pray for us and if that is not your thing please send positive vibes our way. Thank you x
