Looking for help

Psjeepster said:

I can not believe how much

I can not believe how much complaining I had to do to get the doctor to listen to me.

Finally after saying to my Dad in front of his nurse... if the doctor does not do something for you in the next 10 minutes I will personally track him down and drag him by the balls to this room to get you the help you need. They doubled his anxiety meds. He is now resting. It took me 7  hours. I even started calling in family members to help me get action. 

I am angry, frustrated and scared.

 

 

Psjeepster,

It sounds like you have learned how to take charge and get a response out of the hospital staff.

Your dad has a lot of bad stuff going on at once. It may take a little time for the doctors to figure out a course of attack. It is possible that the hospital staff are not even oncologists, but rather "Hospitalists," depending on what floor he is on.  Most likely infection control and urinary function are their first priorities, along with his ability to eat.  And they can control his fear and pain immediately.

His two forms of lymphoma might both respond to the same chemo drugs, since they are both Non-Hodgkin's strains. But the kidney cancer is unrelated to lymphoma, and may require a differing approach.  He needs to be staged, and they will proceed from there.  Staging will require a PET scan and a CT, if he has not already had those tests.  They don't take too long, and do not cause pain.

Best case scenario: The urinary cancer is early stage, and readily treatable.  The lymphoma very likely is treatable, as the resolution of his swallowing issue suggests (the chemo rapidly reduced the tumor size).

Waiting is tough, but it sounds like they are putting out a dozen fires at once.  It may take a few more days and a few more tests before the have a clear plan for moving forward. But it does sound like his fight might well be winnable at this point.  Many lymphoma patients here have had to wait weeks or even months from initial diagnosis with a biopsy to the beginning of treatment.  From my first CT until the beginning of my first infusion was over a month, not uncommon. But kidney cancers I am unfamiliar with. You might want to check in with the Kidney Cancer Board also. Not because we don't want to address it, but because most (or all) of us here have little familiarity with it.  I have had lymphoma and prostate cancer, and I have learned that even the most knowledgable people one one Board often know virtually noting about other cancers.

max

I realize your dad is already in the hospital but I wonder if you could get him a second opinion at another facility, preferably one that specialises in cancer treatments. 

Psjeepster said:

Thank you everyone for

Thank you everyone for helping me help my Dad. Your insight and advice is priceless. 

Good news today. Dad got out of the hospital and is now in a rehabilitation center. 

I can never thank you all enough for your help. I gives me some peace knowing that I have a place to ask questions and people are so willing to share a part of their lives with me so I can better understand what my dad is going through.

 

I will keep you, your dad and your family in my prayers......stay positive and keep reminding yourself of all the good you face each day.  Sometimes this is simply a smile from a complete stranger. May your dad gain much needed strength to continue his fight!  

That is amazing news!  Your dad must be so thrilled to be back home and this will be much easier on you!  Keep up the fight for him!  Be sure to take good care of yourself as well!