DAD HAS STAGE 3B LUNG CX. HAS ALOT OF PAIN
138743
The effusion is drained based on symptoms.  Pain or shortness of breath are the prime indicators.  Otherwise it is not necessary to routinely drain the effusion if he is asymptomatic.
496445
Since he had some fluid in the healthy lung, it may mean that this only lung is affected by cancer too.\nthere may be 1or 2 other possibility but to be honest cancer is # 1 reason.\nhole in his lung ? may mean pneumothorax which usually resolves by itself but needs some time (may be weeks, my brother had a hole in his lung after heart surgery & it healed after 1 month).\ni wish your uncle good health
507709
My mother had severe lung problems all of her life. At 17, she  hemorraged so bad 1/2 of her left lung had to be taken out. She had a lung disease called bronchiestasis(spelling is Variable). She was told that she probably wouldn't live past forty. She went on to have five children, but did suffer constantly from her condition. She did live until she was 69. Many improvements and medical treatments have come along way in the treatment of many lung disorders. Yet, there is no cure for this disease.\nKnowing she had limited lung capacity, she did many things to try to improve her life. One thing that probably added a few more years to her life was to eliminate all aerosol usage. I built her a "clean" room that not only included ac/heat, but also air scrubbing using various filters and insuring that they were always clean.\nThere are some foods that are no-no's when it comes to taking oxygen right out of your system. It would be very beneficial to visit a lung doctor and get a good diet from him. There are also foods that enable you to produce more oxygen. It is going to tkae some \nself involvement and require you to make some adjustments to your life style, but you can help yourself a little. I hope these words are helpful nad know that you have someone who has travelled this road and knows of the problems and downfalls to not being able to get a good breath. Take care and God bless you.
180175
Dealing with a life threatening cancer is certainly a life changing event for the family (along with the obvious for the one who is afflicted). Watching my father die this year (even though for much of it i was away at school) has been the most difficult thing ive had to deal with in my life. Seeing someone that you love and respect so much slowly go from an active person, to a sedentary person, to a dying person is a difficult transformation to witness. There is always some form of bad news as the cancer slowly defeats some of the different methods that are used at times to treat the illness. You tend to experience every emotion in small bits. First theres a lot of fear and denial, because although there are so many different forms of cancer, and so many people get the disease, its never going to happen to us, we thought. Then theres anger and despair, and just an incredible sense of loss as you realize some of the things that will hopefully happen someday in my life that he cant be there for.\n\nYet you begin to realize that you are not alone, and that life really is a precious thing. I became so much more thankful for the 19 years i got with my dad (sadly a lot of this was after he passed, as it was too tough for me to be around him while he was in his final weeks). Although you have to deal with the slow dying process, you get to spend so much more time with them, than if death had come quickly from an acute illness. You begin to value the things which you take for granted from before. The difficulties never go away during the process, but every little bit that Dad fought, along with the good moments made life worthwhile. \n\nonce i made peace with the idea that he would die, there was a pretty horrible sense of waiting, because you know eventually it will come (if its terminal). But you realize that you have time, and that is a beautiful thing. Ironically, ive learned to love who my dad was more since he has gone than while i was an ungrateful teen (or maybe i just didnt realize how i loved the man).\n\nFortunatly all cancer is not fatal, and there is a lot of hope for a cure. Im now a better person for the difficult process, and ive learned to have empathy for my fellow man and woman. I love my dad, and the fact that he is gone doesnt take away from the wonderful 19 years i got with him.
571412
First off, I'd like to extend my premature condolences and am sorry that you're even going thru this. \n\n       Talk to your father and see if you and him can put your head together and consider legal action. I'm not saying sue. There's no one to sue, not until you get a case. There should be an investigation with this place. Take it from there, but also.....\n\n        On the other hand, my father's in the medical field and 1 day before my grandmother passed on last November she was doing fine for a couple of days after having complications. She was talking like her usual self until she slipped into a coma of sorts... My father termed that "the calm before the storm" and that he had seen that all the time at his hospital. He has been dealing with patients for almost 30 years now, so I definitely take incentive in that. This is likely what it was....she was doing ok for a time following her malady, but whatever was the underlying cause of her condition went in and took over even when she appeared to be up and around. It's a sad and confusing part of death. Apparently, it's also common.
343405
I AM NOT A DOCTOR, but I did have, had the same systems a year ago.  I thought I was having chest pains and panicked.  Went to the ER, after my trying to explain the pain, (different country) and after an eternity found it was not my chest, but my lungs, I had an ammonia, (walking)  After a couple of days looking back since I am an older person, and if anyone has that little tickle (cough) in their throat check it out. Also dander from pets. Sorry pet lovers I have birds, dogs, cats, the list goes on because I live in the country..\n\nI also felt something different for at least a couple of months, but did not think anything of it, just a tickle in my throat\n\nHonestly I thought it was chest pains, but turned out to be my lungs.  Because I described where the pain was the doc's where checking out the heart, took like eons for them to know it was the lungs. Once x-rays and everything came back they started treatment, am grateful to be alive now.
332737
i hate to be the one to scare the hell out of you. but i had the same thing burning in my right lung, 8-9-2001 they took my right lung out . i had lung cancer. take my advice see a pulmonologists. my dr kept me on damn cough syrup for a year. and when i started to spitting up blood she says well donald i guess we need to get some chest xrays. then it was too late. see a pulmonologist man. do not go thru what i have been. see my 360 you will know what i mean. also good luck to you.
475520
I guess I missed the question but assume you are looking for a diagnosis....It is hard to say could be aspiration pneuminia but that is much more common in the right mid lobe of the lung vs left.  Does the patient have a history of smoking or working in a coal mine or with asbestos?  You need to present all of the info here if you are expecting help.  HOw was the temperature taken?  if it was rectal then it isn't such a high fever, but if that is axilary then you add a degree which makes the situation more concerning.  The resp rate is high so you should have given oxygen via nasal cannula at 2 liters per minute as comfort due to shortness of breath.  What did the nail beds look like...pink or dusky?  Is the person dehydrated and in need of IV fluid or just IV antibiotics to help decrease the fever?  And just because the person has Alzheimers does not mean they are not still a person, you can still talk to them and ask them questions, they sometimes have lucid moments.  Also, the family should be able to give you oral history or you could even call the nursing home.  Some patients have been at long term care for years and the staff get to know them pretty well.  Good luck, I hope I helped..........P.S.  I am a nurse in long term care.
583191
My dad died of cancer, small cell lung cancer, that only comes from cigarette smoke. You don't have to ask me my opinion!!!!\nHis bones disolved from the cancer before he died.\n\nI have to ask, since we are honest, why is this even a question when a child is involved? Your husband needs to stand up like a man for his family!!!
67272
My husband has the same cancer as your father, but I think his might be more advanced that your dad's.  My husband is 63 years old.  He is taking the same treatments as your dad, but also a bone strengthener intravenously once every 4 weeks.  The bone strengthener is called Zometa, and this treatment takes about 30 minutes each time.  He also had 5 radiation treatments to his spine which helped greatly with pain control.  \n\nOnce cancer has spread beyond the prostate it can't be cured, but it can often be controlled for several years.  It sounds like my husband has many more spots of cancer in his bones than your dad does, and we are hopeful that he will have at least a few years.  The most important thing for your dad is to not break a bone - cancer in the bones makes them very brittle.  In addition to the intravenous bone strengtheners my husband takes calcium and Vitamin D every day - prescribed by the cancer specialist.  He takes very strong pain meds also.  \n\nThe day will come when the hormone treatments will stop working.  When that happens there is some research that suggests some chemotherapy drugs can give the person a few more months of life.  The overall life expectancy at this stage tends to be up to three years, but every individual is different and responds differently to treatment.  It will be affected by your dad's health otherwise, his strength in fighting this, his attitude, and his will to live.\n\nBe strong yourselves and take care of yourselves.  You need to take care of you in order to help him.  I have learned that.  It sounds like he is getting good care.  Ask about the need for bone strengtheners.  Also, good nutrition is very important in figthing cancer.  Make sure he eats a healthy diet, low in fat particularly.  Try to keep a positive outlook, and now is the time to live each day as if it is your last.  Life becomes precious when we realize it is on a timer.  Take care, and God bless.
423513
I am sorry to hear that your uncle is in pain.  I don't know what kind of cancer your uncle has, but the pain can usually be well controlled.  \n\nPalliative care means treatment to make the person as comfortable as possible and to provide the best quality of life possible.  My husband has Stage 4 metastatic cancer - the cancer has spread to his bones and liver.  Cancer in the bones is very painful, but his pain is very well controlled.  His treatment has been considered pallliative for over a year now - we know that it will not cure his cancer, but it does control his symptoms and give him ease and make it possible for him to get out and even do short trips.  \n\nA big part of palliative care is pain relief.  For the most part the pain of cancer can be well controlled so your uncle should not have to suffer pain.  My husband takes a lot of pain medication, and they make him sleepy sometimes, especially for a few days when the prescription has to be increased.  The papin medications used for cancer pain often have side effects that then need to be addressed, constipation being one of them.\n\nMy husband has had both radiation and chemotherapy as part of his palliative care.  The purpose of each is to give him more quality time, not to kill the cancer.  The process of the chemotherapy was quite exhausting for him, but now that it is over, he feels better and is able to do more things.\n\nSeeing a dietician may be part of palliative care.  People who are very ill and in pain and fighting cancer have some special needs in terms of diet and nutrition.  For example, because the cancer is in my husband's bones he gets an intravenous bone strengthener once a month, and takes calcium and vitamin D.  A side effect of the chemotherapy has been fluid retention, so he takes a diuretic for that, which means he has to have orange juice and bananas everyday for the potassium.\n\nIn its final stages palliative care keeps the person comfortable in their final days.  But because care is termed "palliative" it does not mean the person will die tomorrow or next week, or even anytime soon necessarily.  \n\nIt is most important for you and your family to know that if your uncle is in pain, something can be done about that.  Does someone accompany him to his apointments?  He may need that support to make sure his oncology team knows what is happening with him - if he is on a lot of medication he may not remember to tell them everything.  We see a pain management team regularly as part of mny husband's care.  Ask is there is such a team available to see your uncle.\n\nI hope these thoughts have been of some help to you.  Take care.  You will be in our thoughts.
263
May I direct you to http://www.lung.ca/diseases/emphysema.html . Tell him I hope he feels better.
293747
Your mom needs to make a choice, either take him to the doctor and put up with the hysterics, or run the risk of having to buy him a casket.  I am no doctor, and you should not trust any medical advice you get from a public forum like this, but from your description, it sounds very serious and you should get a second opinion.
566975
My dad had colon cancer a couple of years ago. He made it through and is now cancer free by the grace of God. Many people prayed for him and still do. I will pray for your dad. God made us and he can fix us if we only ask and believe.
412549
Hello\n\n Boy that's a difficult question and one I am also going through right now with my mother.  I don't think anyone is going to be able to answer this for you and your family, you all know your mom the best.  I can only tell you what we have done.  My mother knows she has lung and heart problems but she really doesn't understand the severity of the problems.  The last time she was hospitalized she had to be put on life support, and the doctors told us she has about 6 months. She is terrified of doctors and hospitals and worries about dying.  She's been really sick for years now.  As a family we decided not to tell her what the doctors said because she gets so scared and we want her to get the most out of the time she has left without being scared and worring all the time.  So only your family knows enough about how your mother to make this decision.  Is she the kind of person who would want to get her affairs in order or would it only add to her suffering.  I hope this helps some. Good luck and God bless.
356762
You have to do a little research before trying to convince you dad to get treatment.  For example, it is quite likely that your dad has talked to the doctors and has more information than you at this point.  Cancer that has spread has no chance of cure. Chemotherapy can make a person very sick.  If he lives alone, there would not be anyone to take care of him if he gets chemo and feels like throwing up all the time.  So talk to him to get more information before trying to change his mind.
248278
I thought that you might find this informative to say the least. It will give you a better idea of what you are dealing with, unfortunately I am willing to bet that because of the situation a lawsuit may not even be considered. Sounds as if this is not a ordinary condition such as dealing with your gall bladder or appendix. In cases where they try different things in order to fix a problem that is not common it makes it difficult to prove that there is really any negligence involved. Case in point, my brother in law had lung cancer, they treated him for pneumonia for the year before it was actually diagnosis as cancer. In the mean time it had turned to small cell lung cancer, which basically is a death sentence. He died. Now the thing was is that because he was a smoker and had smoked his whole life he had symptoms of lung disease the cancer shows up on xrays very much like pneumonia and lung disease, where they negligent, well according to the lawyers my sister talked to NO. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't consult with a medical malpractice lawyer just to be sure. The thing that I would do is get a notebook and document everything that has happened so far while it is still fresh in your minds. Have everyone that is involved write down everything they can remember. That will help when you go to talk with the lawyer. Also don't let anyone from the hopital know that you might take action. The lawyer can and will request all information and records involved in his care. Then they have people(experts) who can really tear things apart and decipher what just went on to see if there was medical malpractice.\n\nhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000068.htm\n\n\nAlso upon reading that article above from the link, a collapsed lung is not an uncommon thing with this condition. That I am sorry to say. Meaning, it can happen spontaniously without any trauma but just because of what is going on. Sounds like you are in for a tough time. I am truly sorry for your family and brother. My prayers will be with you.