So where do I start - my dad was a type 1 diabetic, daily injections etc. His kidneys had started to fail so he received a kidney and pancreas transplant which means he would be on immunosuppressants for his life however he had a healthy kidney and no diabetes! All was well, 6 years on and he had a cough, smokers cough. For a long long while. He's recently been getting quite severe chest infections, he kept going to the doctors and they kept sending him home with antibiotics and breathing apparatus to 'open his airways'. They told him he was fit to go on holiday a month ago for 3 weeks with my step mum to New Zealand - trip of a lifetime! During the holiday he was coughing more than usual and found out he had cracked a rib on the right side, they gave him painkillers and told him to take it easy for the rest of the holiday. When he returned back to the UK his feet and legs were in serious pain and he couldn't breathe probably and was struggling to do anything without running out of breath. After another trip to the doctors they told him he had a high instep and listened to his chest and said all was absolutely fine with him. The next day, he was in so much pain and couldn't breathe so we took him to the hospital. Here he was informed he had blood clots in the feet, legs, chest and lungs. They also sent him for an X-ray to find out why the chest infections had lingered so long in his body. That's when they found the cancer. After an MRI, biopsy and a 7 day stay in the hospital, he was sent home with blood thinners for the clots and a two weeks wait time. Friday we went to the oncologist for the results feeling hopeful they may have caught it early because of the blood clots alerting us but no such luck. He has stage 4 lung cancer which started in his right lung and moved to his left, including the outer lung walls and the airways. When my dad left the room I asked the doctor what his chances are to survive the year and he said very slim. He's having a chemo consultation in two weeks as they need further tests to find out which strain it is and which chemotherapy to give him which will be most effective. What do we do? How do we cope? I am 22 and my dad is 49, he's so young to die so early. I just don't know what to do or say, I'm so scared of losing him. Every time he coughs now (which is very very often) all I can think about is the cancer. I wish I could do something to help him. His breathing has got worse in the last couple of days and he's been throwing up some fluids because of him coughing so much which makes me think he has a pleural effusion (I research a lot). He's also very tired recently and goes to bed hours before his usual time, he has no appetite and he's lost 3st in the last 3 or 4 months. Are these signs the end is near? Surely the doctors would have warned us or kept him in if it was really that bad? I panic about everything, every cough, every breath, cold hand etc everything so I may be looking into it too much but I hate not knowing. Sorry this is so long I just wanted to explain the situation and see if anyone out there can relate or advise.
