Hi
My dad has just finished his 4th (and final..for now) FLOT treatment. Over the last few weeks I've noticed that he's gone back to bad habits including smoking again, which has devastated me. He always was a smoker, not heavily, but still. He gave up shortly after diagnosis, and I had no reason to think he hadn't. However, lately I've smelled it on his coat etc. Things came to a head recently and I confronted him, which at first he denied, then admitted. I've been trying so hard to be supportive through everything, checking he takes his tablets, taking him to chemo etc.
He knows it's wrong. I've tried talking to him, we've both been upset, but he basically said he just wants to live his life as he wants. He is now in his rest period before surgery in the summer. I've tried to warn him of risks etc, whilst trying to remain supportive! He knows all this himself though. I'm trying to persuade him to give patches a go, but he doesn't want them. He says he's going to stop by himself, but I'm doubtful of this.
I feel like dad has found chemo harder than he's let on. He's not one who easily talks about how he's feeling either. He has been getting out but he's looked very tired at times. He's naturally had side effects, some quite awful, but we've got through the 4 cycles so far. He knows it's important to be as fit as he can be for the surgery and the nurses have rang him a few times to check that he is keeping his fitness up. I just feel so upset knowing that he's resumed smoking and I worry so much about how that can impact surgery and his treatment yet to come. Its such a tough time for all of us. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x
