Hi,
I posted a while ago about my grandad who’s received a secondary diagnosis of brain mets who originally had lung cancer.
He is on Dexamethasone (2mg tabs/ 8 a day) and the side effects are concerning me but I’m not sure if they are normal (hospital don’t seem overly concerned) he has had rapid weight gain, increased hunger and swelling which I know come with steroid use. However, he is experiencing really severe shakiness and dizziness, muscle weakness and what I think is vertigo. He is a very proud man and very much plays down his symptoms but I’m concerned he needs to be seen incase there is another underlying issue.
We are currently waiting to hear back from QMC Hospital (more specialised for neurological and brain conditions/cancers) to see if he can have the radiotherapy. We’ve currently been waiting approx a month and it’s starting to get him down.. because he’s been given a terminal diagnosis (told months to live) he feels that they don’t care anymore.
I’m one of the main carers/support for both my grandparents and I worry I am not doing enough or the right thing(s) to support them, I would hate to ignore the symptoms if it means something much worse: I’ve been having nightmares most nights and sometimes waking up screaming because of thinking of the worst case scenarios. I’m effectively on call for them 24/7 and they are heavily reliant on me, something which I’m more than happy to do. I’ve just accepted a job as a HCA for the local hospital and I’m concerned that I won’t be reliable enough for the post in case I need to support my grandparents or dash out if something happens.
sorry to vent.. don’t really have anyone else to talk to about it.
sarah
x
