Gaining weight?

bryan64rose
bryan64rose Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
I am new to this board and I take care of my step-father-in-law who has stage 3b lung cancer. My concern is he is gaining 5 or 6 pounds a week. He really does not eat much so I sometimes wonder if it is fluid in his stomach. He sleeps all the time and gets very upset because he cannot do things around the house he feels useless and I try to let him do little things but scared to let him do to much. He also has copd and asthma and he continues to smoke like crazy. He coughs all night long and sometimes I think he is not gonna get his breath back. My little girls are 6 and 9 and they are so tore up about losing him. I hope we have many more years with him but he has been putting things in my husbands name so I wonder is this a sign? He is on oxygen and doing chemo once a week. I love him and if there is anything else I can do to make him more comfortable I will do anything. I just don't feel like I am doing enough. Andrea

Comments

  • ncpiddler2u
    ncpiddler2u Member Posts: 6
    #2
    Fluid
    The weight gain could very well be fluid , why not call his doctor and ask if they might need to monitor his weight more closely, which they should. As far as the smoking, one of the best doctors in our area told my brother when his had reached that point, that quitting would not help, he had already killed his self. The frustration that he feels not so much that he can't do anything, it is the anger that he is feeling about the disease. I know it is hard but let him smoke if that is what makes him happy and just pray for patience when he is so frustrated. I think it is great that he is taking charge of his affairs (putting things in the name of the people he wants to have them), it may be hard to understand but that is part of his acceptance of what is to come.
  • bryan64rose
    bryan64rose Member Posts: 4
    #3
    ncpiddler2u said:

    Fluid
    The weight gain could very well be fluid , why not call his doctor and ask if they might need to monitor his weight more closely, which they should. As far as the smoking, one of the best doctors in our area told my brother when his had reached that point, that quitting would not help, he had already killed his self. The frustration that he feels not so much that he can't do anything, it is the anger that he is feeling about the disease. I know it is hard but let him smoke if that is what makes him happy and just pray for patience when he is so frustrated. I think it is great that he is taking charge of his affairs (putting things in the name of the people he wants to have them), it may be hard to understand but that is part of his acceptance of what is to come.

    fluid
    Thank you so much for answering me back. I have asked his cancer Dr. questions before and they have told me the damage is done but if he stopped it would help his coughing. I sometimes get the notion that they are just waiting on him to die because it seems like they would try to make sure its not fluid, they just tell me it is okay. I even called the cancer center one time and his blood pressure was 82 over 51 and they said feed him salt. The next time that happens we will be going to the er. I agree on the smoking part cause that seems to be the only thing he can do bless his heart,cancer is horrible!

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