what now?

peachycream
peachycream Member Posts: 33
in Esophageal Cancer #1
My dad is in great shape, active, "healthy", etc., however, his tumor has grown so large that he cannot even drink. He is very hungry and thirsty, and is still living his normal life, but I know he cannot go long without nourishment. The thing is, he is under hospice and they will not allow a feeding tube of any sort.

Has anyone been in this situation? What should we do? What are we to expect now?

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • peachycream
    peachycream Member Posts: 33
    #3
    Also, he has a ton of mucus
    Also, he has a ton of mucus in his throat. His lungs are clear, but he constantly spits up mucus. I think that may be preventing him from eating and drinking. We tried the patch behind his ear and mucinex. Are there any other remedies that could help?
  • Guigna
    Guigna Member Posts: 63
    #4
    peachycream said:

    Also, he has a ton of mucus
    Also, he has a ton of mucus in his throat. His lungs are clear, but he constantly spits up mucus. I think that may be preventing him from eating and drinking. We tried the patch behind his ear and mucinex. Are there any other remedies that could help?

    i think he needs a feeding tube
    either that or he's going to starve to death.
  • stephikindred
    stephikindred Member Posts: 140
    #5
    peachycream said:

    Also, he has a ton of mucus
    Also, he has a ton of mucus in his throat. His lungs are clear, but he constantly spits up mucus. I think that may be preventing him from eating and drinking. We tried the patch behind his ear and mucinex. Are there any other remedies that could help?

    Mucus
    Seems like this is very common with EC for some reason. My mom is starting to get a lot of mucus as well. The other day she began throwing up and all that came out was mucus. She picked up some Mucinex today but If that does not work, I will ask her to try Glycopyrrolate as Cher76 suggests: http://csn.cancer.org/node/237622#comment-1209664.
  • Ginny_B
    Ginny_B Member Posts: 532
    #6
    peachycream said:

    Also, he has a ton of mucus
    Also, he has a ton of mucus in his throat. His lungs are clear, but he constantly spits up mucus. I think that may be preventing him from eating and drinking. We tried the patch behind his ear and mucinex. Are there any other remedies that could help?

    Mom had a lot of mucus as
    Mom had a lot of mucus as well. Hospice provided breathing treatment machines. One sucked out the mucus and the other was a nebulizer that had meds to cut the mucus. When she was in a coma she would choke because of the mucus.
  • stephikindred
    stephikindred Member Posts: 140
    #7
    Ginny_B said:

    Mom had a lot of mucus as
    Mom had a lot of mucus as well. Hospice provided breathing treatment machines. One sucked out the mucus and the other was a nebulizer that had meds to cut the mucus. When she was in a coma she would choke because of the mucus.

    Mucus
    That's awful that your mom was in a coma and choking from mucus Ginny! The mucus problem just started to be something my mom noticed, but based on your response I guess that is something to look for from here on out. Thanks Ginny!
  • jgwright
    jgwright Member Posts: 242
    #8
    stephikindred said:

    Mucus
    Seems like this is very common with EC for some reason. My mom is starting to get a lot of mucus as well. The other day she began throwing up and all that came out was mucus. She picked up some Mucinex today but If that does not work, I will ask her to try Glycopyrrolate as Cher76 suggests: http://csn.cancer.org/node/237622#comment-1209664.

    COmmon
    I have a lot of mucus as well. When we eat I often go through 10 or napkins, spitting and coughing up crud. Just part of the game. If I tried swallowing it, I would have to puke. So, piles of used napkins.

    --Jerry
  • Zoe1
    Zoe1 Member Posts: 22
    #9
    Please look up and search on
    Please look up and search on cancercompass, I read of someone similar to your problem and his tumor was blocking his esophagus and had success with turmeric .

    I said to myself I won't write here on this site (although I come and read it all the time) until I have some good news about my father(he's also an esophageal cancer patient) but I just can't not not say anything when I know this might be of help to you.
  • LouiseR
    LouiseR Member Posts: 2
    #10
    now what
    Please get a feeding tube put right in. As another said,you can stop hospice for the tube to be put in. My husband has his 3rd tube,cannot swallow anything. The mucus is so thick that he chokes all the time,pain in his head,sore throat. But his attitude is amazing.
    The drs. just told him,after chemo and radiation that there's no more they can do for him. It's a waste of of wonderful man's life that has helped hundreds of people through his whole life.
    I just noticed the date,,i hope you have found him the right help,he sounds a lot like my darling hubby. Good luck tto you and yours. Lou
  • LouiseR
    LouiseR Member Posts: 2
    #11
    Zoe1 said:

    Please look up and search on
    Please look up and search on cancercompass, I read of someone similar to your problem and his tumor was blocking his esophagus and had success with turmeric .

    I said to myself I won't write here on this site (although I come and read it all the time) until I have some good news about my father(he's also an esophageal cancer patient) but I just can't not not say anything when I know this might be of help to you.

    turmeric
    Hi. I seen your advice,but I cant find anything about it.How do you take it? How much? How often? My husband cannot swallow anything,the tumor is pushing on his nerves which is causing awful pain. We are willing to try anything. Any advice on how to help my Larry is very welcome. We have tried food grade H202,baking soda,high doses of vitamins(C-D-E and zinc)He went thru 7 weeks of radiation,horrid!,9 months of chemo,now they say there's no more they can do for him,well we will not give up,we fight this damn cancer until the vey end. Thank you for any advice. Lou
  • jgwright
    jgwright Member Posts: 242
    #12
    LouiseR said:

    turmeric
    Hi. I seen your advice,but I cant find anything about it.How do you take it? How much? How often? My husband cannot swallow anything,the tumor is pushing on his nerves which is causing awful pain. We are willing to try anything. Any advice on how to help my Larry is very welcome. We have tried food grade H202,baking soda,high doses of vitamins(C-D-E and zinc)He went thru 7 weeks of radiation,horrid!,9 months of chemo,now they say there's no more they can do for him,well we will not give up,we fight this damn cancer until the vey end. Thank you for any advice. Lou

    Turmeric Source
    My wife found some turmeric capsules that are to be taken 3 times a day. Can't take them while doing Folflox, stop three days before and three days after. The company is Greenbush Natural Products at www.greenbush.net.
    --Jerry

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