Lung and adrenal cancer

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Hi

I am caring for my husband, who has been diagnosed with lung and adrenal cancer this summer. 

He had experienced back ache at the beginning of the year and finally agreed to see his GP, who noted a tumour near his kidney.

A referral to the hospital and a CT scan revealed that he had lung cancer with a secondary large tumour on his adrenal gland. Biopsies for both followed and final diagnosis and treatment plan in July.

He has had two treatments of chemo and immunotherapy now and has become very frail and confused due to low didium levels. He has been unable to eat anything much in the last few weeks, so I am trying to ensure he has fortisips regularly. 

Now he is on morphine capsules, which have relieved the pain, but made him very sleepy.

I am really struggling to ensure he has sufficient to eat and drink to ensure he can continue with treatment., 

  • Hi Cc1142

    im sorry you are struggling getting your husband to eat and I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help to you but think you deserve some help, it’s a scary place to be isn’t it.  Have the nurses noticed how your husband is in himself when he goes for his treatment? Have they told you what he needs to eat or drink or anything else you can do to get his sodium level up. The morphine is probably making him feel sleepy as you say but it could also be the low sodium levels which will be making him feel poorly, hence the confusion and they need to be brought up, they may even have medication he could have.

    You may have already spoken to somebody but I think you should be speaking to your GP or better still your husbands lung nurse and updating her about how he is and the struggle with food. That is what the lung nurse is for, if she says just carry on that’s fine you won’t worry as much, it may be that she can help get your husband feeling a bit better to face his next treatment.  Speak to the lung nurse, I hope you manage to get him well enough for his treatment but don’t struggle, Let us know how you get on.

    Julie