Update on my Dad

Hi all,

Dad was in surprisingly good spirits last night, which was good to see and he ate 2 courses for his tea which I didn’t think he would manage to do. He got a surprise visit from an old friend which was also good and they chatted for a while. While he was in his bed, I phoned another one of his friends from their band in the 60’s to keep him up to date with what was going on and he is going to round up some of the other members for a visit. So that is something else to look forward to. He’s also got day care today so that will take his mind of stuff for a few hours.

Wendy,

Thanks for your support, hopefully we will hear from his specialist soon to see if the stent clearing will be an option, the sooner the better! This waiting game sure does get annoying and frustrating!

The pain your mum is getting sounds exactly like the pain my dad gets in his right hand side. He cant sleep on that side and also gets the pain when he feels that he is “catching” it as you put it. He has learned to take it easy when he is moving in a certain way or doing something that he knows would aggravate that area. Some people have told him that it could be related to having the stent inserted through the ribs, even after all that time and he has had pain in that area on and off since he had the stent inserted. The solpadols help him with this, is your mum taking any meds for this?

Sharon,

The itching was indeed very annoying to say the least! Hopefully they have caught this before any itching starts and can get on top of it now and do something.

One day at a time indeed! Good luck with the bloodwork results.

Marion,

You are so right about detecting the jaundice whilst being around the patient permanently. I thought we were on top of that and I did check him every day, but it must have come on so quickly and I didn’t notice the change in skin colour. It was good that dad was able to talk with the nurse about things other than cancer, small world indeed.

Many thanks to you all and mybest wishes to all.

Gavin

Hi Lainy,

You sure can make a little funny, a little humour is always good! And yes, yellow is not a good colour as we all know. No dad is not itching so at least that is something, the itching was a nightmare last year for him and i’m sure Teddy went through that as well did he not? Right now dad’s eyes look completely different to what they did last year. They looked white to me just now compared to the yellow they were before.

Thanks for your good thoughts and I will definitely keep you updated with whats going on.

Best wishes

Gavin

Hi all,

We were at the onc’s this morning and the news isn’t great, dads jaundice is back. His urine turned really dark last night but it’s wasn’t showing up in his eyes last night or today and I have been checking his eyes each day for any signs. The onc noticed a change in his skin colour and so did the specialist nurse as soon as she saw dad. She said to me that she could see a slight tinge but I didn’t notice it. So as it stands right now, dad cant get chemo.

They took 3 separate blood samples so we need to wait for the results but it’s not looking too hopeful. The onc is going to get in touch with dads specialist to see if they can take a look inside to see what is happening with the stent and if it can be cleaned. If it can, and it was stressed if, then they will get dad back in at some point to re-asses based on his liver function results and billirubin levels. If they can’t go back in and do anything with the stent, then the onc said that chemo is definitely not going to be an option for dad and that there are no further treatments left, which we knew before from his specialist.

So now it’s just a case of waiting to hear from the specialist to see what he thinks. When we met him a few weeks ago, he stressed that if chemo was going to be tried then it had to be now, so I hope he will be treating this as a matter of urgency. The onc said he will update dads GP on what happened today so that if nothing can be done he can get a meeting arranged with the palliative care team. The onc was really good, spent ages talking with dad about all sorts and really made him feel at ease. And it turned out that the oncology nurse worked in the same company dad did 20 years ago. They didn’t know each other but were talking about people they knew who worked there over the years, she was nice and took great care of dad.

Julia,

Hope it all goes well today for your sister.

Best wishes to all

Gavin

Hi Julia,

My dad is doing pretty good these last few days thanks. The new meds seem to be working so far, touch wood and all that! He hasn’t been sick since Wednesday and has been eating much better, 3 smallish meals a day plus some snacks, he does like his snacks, mums chocolates! And he even had one of his alcohol free lagers on Friday night while watching the tv.

He’s still getting really tired easily and is sleeping a lot but I think that is just something that we are going to have to put up with. His mood has been good these last few days and he enjoyed day care on Friday, his team one the quiz again so he was chuffed. I know he is thinking about tom and what the onc will say, but we will just deal with that tom when we know some more news either way. So all in all he is doing much better at the end of the week than the start, and he is not doing too badly with the pain. I think taking the 8 tablets a day every day now seems to be working a bit better but I still quiz him on this so I can keep a note of any pain to put in his folder for the day care team to look at every time he goes there.

Hows your sister doing just now? I hope she is good and I know you will be taking good care of her. Is she still going to be starting her chemo this week?

My best wishes to you both and to everyone else.

Gavin

Hi all,

Today has been a much better day indeed! Dad had a good day, still really tired, but no vomiting at all and no pain. Also, he had plenty to eat, breakfast, dinner and fish for his tea and water to drink and managed to keep it all down. He was very hungry after not eating much after the last few days so I think he’s going to try and eat more often but have smaller amounts throughout the day.

Hopefully tom will be another good day so that he can get out to day care and mum can get to the bingo with her sister. I think they can both do with getting out of the house for at least a few hours.

Kris

I told my dad what your onc told you about the vomitting and he wanted to thank you for that, as do I. He is definitely feeling a bit better now that it seems to be under control and was a good bit more chatty tonight.

Lainy,

A much brighter day indeed. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Teddy for tom and his trip to the rad man, I hope it goes well.

Marion,

Alas no it was just the tinned type. I need to get more ingredients tom so I can make a fresh pot, think I will do yellow split pea, carrots and swede with ham stock as dad really likes that, as do I! Yes I guess mum’s stubborness does keep her going, after all, mum’s know best!

My best wishes to all

Gavin

Hi everyone,

Well dad’s feeling much better today, a whole lot better than last night and he even got a decent nights sleep! He stopped vomitting late last night and hasn’t been sick today at all. And he’s had something to eat for breakfast and is in a much better mood. We will see how the rest of the day pans out but hopefully this is these meds kicking in and working now. Dads just going to have a light lunch of some soup and maybe a yoghurt and see what if anything happens later. Mums totally knackered though after having no sleep for 3 nights so hopefully she will get some sleep today, she badly needs it.

I also want dad to get in touch with his Macmillan nurse to keep her in the loop as to what is happening etc, especially with the metting with the onc coming up on Monday so hopefully she will come round next week sometime. Mentioned contacting the onc/specialist today but they dont want to seeing as they are due to see him on Monday and dad will see GP’s tom at day care. Talked with dad again about the importance of drinking water, even just small amounts but more frequently to try and stay hydrated. He did his usual “yeah yeah I know”, so now instead of asking, I’m just giving him a drink! And no pain this morning so all in all a much better day so far!

Lainy,

Dad is usually pretty good at seeing the doc’s etc, unlike mum and he usually listens to me if I say he should see one. So I’m hoping that yesterday was just a one off when he said no to seeing one today. I have tried the guilt trip before on mum and will probably have to again no doubt, I even get her sister and 2 nieces to join in, but she is as stubborn as a mule! The suppositories is something that I am going to talk about with the Macmillan nurse or the GP at the first oppoprtunity I get as that me be a big help.

Many thanks and best wishes to all.

Gavin