External drain
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Hi Andie,
That is great to hear that your dads drain is working again and also that he is feeling better and that his appetite has increased as well, that all sounds good to me. As you say, the rollercoaster has slowed down and like you, I hope it stays that way. And please, I know it’s hard not to do, but try not to think in terms of timeframes and try and make the most of each day and not think too far ahead.
My dad went off a lot of foods as well, but at least your dad is eating and kippers, oh yeah! Tasty!!! And mash, gravy, soups etc all sound to me like foods that will be easier for your dad to digest so perhaps that is why he is wanting these foods? I know my dads GI specialist recommended to him that he ate foods like that when my dad was having digestive troubles.
My best wishes to you and your dad,
Gavin
Julia,
It is so hard not to clock watch but I do keep remembering there is no expiry date stamped on us!! I hope you and your sister are both ok. xx
Jen,
Thanks for your advice and support on the ‘drain’ experience. Fingers crossed it will be problem free. What sort of high calorie food does your Mom do? perhaps I could pass some ideas on to my Mom. She could do with putting some weight on too!! Here’s to many more months with our Dads, xx
YAY!! So glad to hear your Dad is feeling better Andrea – that’s wonderful! Also glad to hear he’s eating well, even if it’s only a few different things. Mom is complaining of the weight she’s gained because she’s been cooking Dad food with higher fat content to keep his weight up, and she’s eating too much because he eats so little of it… ha ha.
I hope and pray he continues to feel well, and glad your Dad is proving the doctors WRONG in their decision to give him a time frame of 3-4 months.
Jen
Thanks for your advice Marion, Mom has been given him larger portions and he has been eating them.
He has gone a bit fussy with his food so he seems to be having the same food all the while, but as long as he’s eating and it’s what he wants then to me that’s ok but Mom is getting a bit frustrated that he has gone off a lot of food. Slowly I think she is realising that as long as he’s eating it doesn’t matter. At the moment he wants buttered mash potato and gravy, so he is having that most days. He also likes soups for dinner and he is enjoying apples and lots of tinned peaches and ice cream. He also enjoys tomato on toast and today asked for kippers lol.
Andrea, I’m so glad he’s feeling better. I have everything crossed he continues to do so. It must be so difficult for you not to “clock-watch” but I hope you can keep remembering that we do NOT have a set expiry date!!
Thinking of you all
Julia xAndie….Great to hear that your Dad is feeling better. Perhaps you can add some more calories to his diet to make up for the weight loss which may have occured due to the problems he had encountered within the last few weeks.
All my best wishes,
MarionDads drain is working again, he is feeling less breathless and his appetite is better. He said he feels better than he has for a while. He has started to take his fortijuice drinks again since Tuesday, so perhaps these along with the flush have helped.
He is now in his 4th month of being told he had 3-4 months and he said he really doesn’t feel any worse (now the drain is working) he has lost weight though.
For now the rollercoaster ride has slowed down, I hope it stays that way!!
Best wishes to you all
Andrea x
Andrea – My son always seemed to have problems with his drains….leaking and not always working right. Flushing did help, but for him, it was only temporary. I learned how to clean all his bandages and clean things up and sometimes I had to do that three times a day. He would have things straightened out in the hospital and then it would start again. I wish I had an easy answer. I’m not sure I really ever understood what was actually going on with the drain. Sometimes, the doctors even seemed puzzled by it! Glad that things seem better right now and hope that continues for your Dad. – Nancy
Andrea that’s great news that it has been done. I hope that it works well now and that it all starts flowing again.
Keep us posted…
JemimaDads drain has been flushed! fingers crossed this solves the problem.
His GP gave permission in the end as the QE hospital weren’t willing to give permission until the flow had completely stopped. Like you say Jemima, good old NHS!!
The past few days have tipped both Mom and Dad over the edge and they have been snapping at each other alot. I feel like piggy in the middle. Mom is a worrier and doesn’t cope to well when things start to fall apart. She is convinced the flushing won’t work and it’s the tumor blocking the drain. When they flushed it Dad said lots of sludge came out but at the moment it’s saline mixed with bile flowing so I suppose we won’t know if it has worked until the next few days when he can compare bile colour and output.
Best wishes
Andrea
Andrea
I am glad that your Dad still has his appetite even with all these problems. Good old NHS…….. I know that things do happen differently here but still, surely flushing his drain will help prevent him getting sicker and then probably needing even more care.
I hope that he gets it done soon and that things improve.
Thinking of you
JemimaJen,
I can’t get my head around it either when people are flushing their drains daily. They said it was due to infection, surely not flushing has more chance of causing infection. Perhaps the UK do things differently. I must admit Dads drain as been problem free for 3 months without the flushing. The District Nurses come weekly, daily if needed, so Dad is going to discuss the flushing with them once they have permission to do it.
I just feel so down at the moment as Dad is really fed up with the leak, it is effecting his sleep at night and he is just generally fed up, which is horrible to see. I really hope they sort it out and it becomes problem free again. I am happy though that his lungs, stomach are not showing signs of fluid though as I had convinced myself that his breathing problems was due to this. So at least through one problem another one is put to rest.
He enjoyed sausage, suede and potatoes tonight too which is always nice to hear.
Best wishes to you and your family
Andrea
It seems so strange to me that they didn’t want it flushed, when the majority of people who have the drains do it daily! You should get them to show your Mom and Dad how to do it and maybe they could start handling that themselves? Maybe these things are handled differently here though, I suppose… it just seems strange!
I hope that if it comes to it, your Dad is willing to go in for the tube change… as others have said it seems to normally be a day procedure.
Jen
Hi Andie. Teddy used to get his tube changed about every 6 – 8 weeks. It’s an in and out deal, home the same day. I hope that Dad gets a good flushing!
Well, the QE Hospital won’t give permission to flush the drain until the bile stops draining completely, which doesn’t make sense to me. Surely the bile is building up and needs to be able to flow. It has dropped from 200 a day to 50.
Dads doctor came to see him today as Dads District Nurse was concerned about Dads breathing. He has agreed to give permission to flush the drain, so hopefully it will be done in the next 2 days.
The good news is Dads lungs are clear and no ascites, so his breathing problems are more than likely due to the lack of nutriants and a bit of anxiety. BP is perfect and no temp. Dad has started taking his fortijuice drinks again so hopefully we will see the difference in a few days.
Fingers crossed the tube gets flushed and the bile starts flowing again.
Best wishes
Andrea
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