Here's a new twist: can't receive chemo while an inpatient

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Floshoe
Floshoe Member Posts: 11 Member
edited February 2022 in Colorectal Cancer #1

So my ex was admitted as an inpatient on Wednesday with a partial blockage of his colon due to his peritoneal tumors. He was supposed to start chemo today to (hopefully) shrink those tumors. However, he was told at the hospital yesterday that they would not discharge him until he could keep liquids down, and that he could not get chemo while he was an inpatient. It is apparently "outpatient only."

He has trouble keeping liquids down until his colon is less blocked, and his colon will not be less blocked until he receives chemo. However, he can't receive chemo as long as his colon is blocked because they won't let him out of the hospital. Oncologist acknowledged this is a "Catch-22", without acknowledging this is a Catch-22 of their own making.

Luckily, my ex managed to keep some fluids down, and they discharged him. He was able to start his new round of chemo started this morning (FOLFIRI and Avastin). Have any of you run into this problem, or is it just our hospital (Loyola in Chicago)?

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  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    edited February 2022 #2
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    I haven't had that problem. My uneducated guess is that when one is in the hospital, they are always prepared to rush you into surgery. Like how they always leave an IV until you are getting the discharge papers. Maybe they feared that and the chemo would make healing from surgery more difficult.

    For instance, when I got my liver resection, I had to be off chemo for 3 weeks. And even at that, I barely made getting it that day because my WBC counts had been too low a few days before at my pre-surgery check. But I was within the limits that day.

    Again, just a guess. I have been admitted into the hospital for desensitization chemo, so there is that.

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