My Husband was diagnosed 12 days ago with a 20cm Kidney tumour, already spread to the lungs and Lymph nodes.
He's had a biopsy and we're waiting for next steps on potential action plans so we're at the start of his cancer journey and haven't reached his treatment team yet..
Almost daily, new problems are occurring, he has been very sedentary in the past 3 weeks and has been sleeping on a settee (with legs raised) for almost 6 weeks.
He's been on paracetamol and tramadol for 2 weeks and in the last few days Oral Morphine has been added as he is really struggling with pain. Once he's comfortable he doesn't want to move. He's constipated so we're using 15mg sennacot every evening. We're increasing this to 7.5mg every 6 hours. He's not eating much at all but feels constantly bloated. The tumour is pushing his stomach, panceras and arteries across towards his right hand side.
He uses 2 hot water bottles for abdomen and lower back (almost 24/7) and now has open sores on his back that I've covered with tegaderm film to avoid infection. I don't know if I should be using melonin dressings instead, or something else entirely?
He also has a sore developing at the top of his bum cleft and now he has what looks like a skin infection at the end of his foreskin. I recognise it as something similar to an infection that my son had when he was very young, with swelling/bubbling of the foreskin near the head of the penis. He's cleaning the area regularly but we are wondering if this is a normal symptom of kidney cancer as his feet and ankles have also really swelled up.
I don't have any medical background besides having raised 2 young men into their 20's and a long stint in St John ambulance as a teenager but I know enough that each of these things need to be properly managed so they don't develop into significant problems but I don't know who to ask for help as the GP surgery is saying that we should go to the walk in centre as they don't do dressings. He is struggling to make even short car journeys so I'm reluctant to take him if they are also likely to send us elsewhere.
Is there any guidance available for these and other likely symptoms that he faces so that I can keep an eye out and get it dealt with in the right way, myself where practical whilst we wait to get into the cancer care system.
