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unstoppable sickness/ how to keep water in?!

graceindia
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My dad was diagnosed with tongue cancer thats in just go into the neck nodes about a month ago and last week had the first of 5 chemo sessions (he will also have 7 weeks radiotherapy starting in a month). The chemo was 5 days long, and ended last tuesday (4 days ago), and since it began he has barely eaten anything at all, at first maybe a weetabix and two spoons of soup a day via his mouth, but then in the last 2/3 days only anything through the tummy tube, and has had terrible diorreah and sickness. yesterday they took him to hospital for assessment and a drip, but now its the weekend and we cant keep any of the anti sickness medicines in and even putting water into the PEG tube comes up when we give him any anti dioreah melt on the mouth tablets. Normal eating or swallowing a pill is out of the question. We keep trying to get water in, but im so worried that at the begenning of such a long treatment this is a terrible start, his digestive system is behaving so badly and his farts are so bad they make him sick too. 

We are on a full time job me and my mum, trying to get small amounts of water, anti sickness, 'ensure' meal replacement and anti indigestion into him, but not sure what else we can do/ how long this can fessably go on with it constantly coming out before he just wastes away or does serious damage to other organs. 

Apart from the horror of seeing someone you love and who is normally so jolly going through this, is this normal and can you survive with this little staying in the body- will they stop chemo if this carrys on? 

Thank you and my wishes and love to everyone else who has found them self searching for advice here, thankful for blessings like the internet 

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    Hi,

    Talk to his doctor or MacMillan nurse - if he's becoming dehydrated he may need to go back on a drip but no-one on here is medically qualified (I'm certainly not, just a patient) and able to advise at that level of detail.

     

    Good luck.

    Dave

  • Offline in reply to davek

    Thank you for the message, yes we are going back to the hospital first thing on Monday morning, its just very hard as this always happens on the weekend and all you can do is go to a&e which is the worst place for someone whos immunity is so low. His doctor did say that this is to be expected with chemo and to keep trying to get water in, so we carry on trying! 

  • Offline in reply to graceindia

    That sounds so frustrating - have you tried the out of hours GP? Rectal rehydration might be an option, but you’d need medical advice or assistance before trying it. 

    A&E is always there as a backstop.

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    Oh my, that is horrible, this is a long weekend also, the doctor did say this was expected but to what extreme?? I would get him back to the hospital tonight, there gotta be something they can do, I myself am still going to tests and got more coming this week, there is a tomour in my rectum, very painful,I seen my new family doctor last week, he got my colonoscopy report and it said no cancer was detected, the fact is, I’m told that sometimes the colonoscopy can miss the cancer cells? That did not take the pain away though, I am in so much pain, I’ve med the surgeon Doctor last week, he is doing a colonoscopy on me Tuesday and then a PET scan, to get to the bottom of this, but back when I seen my new family doctor he said, he was going to give me pain meds, but because it came back showing no cancer yet, we will get hold off on pain meds, my jaw dropped I tell you, but he’s the doctor and I can only do as told, on my second night of no pain medication my wife managed to get me to The hospital emergency, I don’t remember much but they took me in right away and hooked me up to a IV to replenish my blood etc. And also put a bag of hydromorphone to releave me of pain, a hour later I could talk and had my energy back, the doctor also gave me a 2 week prescription of hydromorphone to help me with all this traveling to appointments etc. I have all the symptoms of cancer, and after the MRI results the cancer doctor who has now taken over said it may not be cancer but if it is, it’ll be stage 4, and he is really rushing to get me a colonoscopy again, the moral of the story, if my wife would of listened to my new family doctor I would not be here today, I’m not pain free, far from it, but it’s under control, so I’m wishing the best for you and your family, mabe a late night trip to the ER won’t hurt, ? Just my thoughts, 

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