swollen abdomen

My husband was just diagnosed with Follicular Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He had gone (On Sept. 1st) to a gastroenterologist because he had no appetite & felt all bloated & was very anemic. The Dr. with his hands could tell that my husb's spleen was as big as a football, (should be the size of a hand). He put him in the hospital right away.
The main thing I can suggest to you is first educate yourself. Go to GOOGLE.com & type in NH Lymphoma & then read all you can.
My husband has had the following procedures in the last 3 weeks: (and your father should probably get many of these as well):
- CT Scan of Abdomen & pelivis & chest
- X-ray of chest & neck
- Biopsy of lymph glands from under arm. Pathology report said Follicular type, but there are many types. They must determine type before deciding on treatment. One of more widely used treatments is called CHOP, then there is R-CHOP. Go to Google & read what these are. R is for rituxin, a new drug that specifically targets the cancer like a "heat-seeking missile".
Other procedures he has had (now as an out-patient):
- PET scan of entire body to see where all the tumors are & measure size.
- Tomorrow he will have bone marrow aspiration to see if it is in his bone marrow also. He will then start chemotherapy of R-CHOP tomorrow. We are also rushing because he can't eat & gets weaker each day. Spleen is pushing on stomach. He also has alot of fluid all aroud his lungs, etc. The docs say this will all be relieved as the treatments progress.

This has been HELL week for my husband, but his kids & I are all trying to move this thing forward as quickly as possible, so he gets his appetite back.
I don't know where you live, but we are in Long Island, NY & are dealing with Mather Hospital & North Shore Hemotology/Oncology & feel they are doing a good job. We will also submit his biopsy slide to Sloan-Kettering in NYC for a 2nd opinion.
You should get an Oncologist right away & he will recommend surgeon to do the biopsy. It may seem overwhelming to you, it would be worse if your father had to start making appointments to help himself. So hang in there, things will start falling into place. Lymphoma usually responds very well to Chemotherapy.

Dyno said:

My Dad had surgery on Wednesday removed a lymphgland his Galbladder and took a biopsy of his liver We got him refered to an Oncologist with a great reputation here in West Michigan. He will see may Dad this morning (Friday) while he is still in the hospital recovering from surgery.

I'm in west michigan too...curious, who is your dad's doctor?? Hope your dad is doing well!