Dad diagnosed with SCLC

zvthree

It's been a week from hell. My dad is 74 years old. After chasing our tail for a month, we finally started getting some answers one week ago. My father's ultrasound revealed cysts on his liver. We were waiting on a cat scan when my father suffered from what I now know was a seizure, I thought maybe it was a stroke. We went to the emergency room. A noncontrasting CT scan revealed shadows on his brain this past Sunday. That's the last time my father was really lucid. They immediately put him on steriods for brain swell and anti-seizure meds. The following day we learned through a cat scan, that he had too many tumors to count in his liver, tumors in his brain, and numerous tumors in his lungs. We were given the choice of hospice or treatment. Treatment prolonging his life for a few months, or maybe shortening it. My dad is diabetic. Doctor said he had weeks at the most. Now he is at home, and the hospice doctor tells me it could be days, she would be shocked if he made it to one month. We decided on doing a biopsy just to know for sure and to learn something about his disease. 2 days later it revealed small cell carcinoma of the lung. I read all I could and I felt better about our decision. I wish it had been his to make but my dad doesn't seem to remember his name now, though he does seem to recognize most people. He was so disturbed after the biopsy, he was paranoid and hurt and didn't understand why. It's also another reason why I think treatment at this point would be... pointless.

He was very healthy in December but January saw a gradual decline in energy, his potassium was high and we thought that's what it was. His liver tests started coming back high in late December. I don't know how this happened so quickly, I knew something was wrong with my dad, but I never imagined cancer and I never imagined it could be so quick. I thought we could do something for him. I can't help but wonder why we didn't notice, why we didn't know. I also wonder if this isn't for the best, my dad is a strong proud guy and he stood till he literally couldn't. He never complained of a headache and only complained of back pain about 2 weeks ago. He quit smoking 15 years ago, but smoked for most of his adult life, 1-2 packs a day. I worry about my mom, his wife of 45 years. Thanks for listening.

joyzee

Dad's
So sorry to hear about your Dad. The best you can do now is keep him comfortable. We had the same thing with my Dad. He was in hospital for 11 days in December, came home week before christmas on oxygen. Doc's said he had lots of fluid in system. December 26 made Mom take him to doc, when he came home, he told us he had cancer of the Liver. We buried him 11 days later. I think my Dad knew he had cancer for awhile, he just wanted to live life his way to the end. Be Blessed.