CTsang1234

Hi All. I am a new member to this board. It has given me great comfort reading everyones posts knowing that they have the same common cause. I lost my father today. It was a little over two months since he was first diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and mets to the brain. I week after his 10th treatment, he had a rapid decline. My father was hospitalized since January 5th and then was moved to a skilled nursing facility on February 1st. He was in the facility for one week before he passed on. We knew his condition was grave when we moved him last week. Reading the book, "Crossing the creek" was so instrumental in my comfort. Thank you Janet for sending me the book. My father waited till my sister showed up to be with him today. Three of my four siblings were with him when he passed. He knew my sister was there when she touched him. His whole breathing changed and then he peacefully passed. Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. Hopefully some day there will be an actual cure. My prayers go out to all of you! Dad - I love you and will miss you. Love, Christopner

Hi All! I wasn't sure if starting a new topic was appropriate or if I should just add on to this thread... Thank you all for your stories, prayers, and thoughtfulness. It's very nice to see a board full of loving and caring individuals. We met with my dad's oncologist today. Due to the rapid progression in my dad's condition, we really never had a personal oncologist. When my dad was hospitalized in Nov 2005, and Released in mid Dec 2005, we were seen by the hospital oncologist who had a well known practice in our area. We were given the treatment plan for radiation and chemo. Because we started the radiation first and my dad was admitted to the hospital, we never made it to the first visit to the oncologist for the chemo consult. Fast forward to today. We were able to discuss with the oncologist my dads condition. Things are not good. My dad's diminished mental state is still the same and he is getting worse. He is eating a lot still and still has his bodily functions, but his circulatory system is slowing down, especially seen in his legs. We asked what could have caused the rapid decline. The Dr could not tell us whether it was a side effect of the radiation treatment, or if he had a small stroke that we weren't aware of. In any case, we now have to deal with my dad's passing. He's spiking fevers and now has a persistant cough... We found him a great skilled nursing facility which he'll be moved to next week. He is to restless for me to take him home and care for him. When the time comes in his last days, we'll want to bring him home. That's my update on my dad. Thanks again for the nice warm thoughts and prayers. Christopher

Thanks to all who have replied and to all who are praying for my dad. It's hard to say if his condition is improving or worsening. Since I see him daily, I think I am more in tune than the rest of my family. He's spiked a fever every day this week. They've taken him off of IV Fluid, as he's eating and drinking plenty at meal times. He is now off decadron and has a time release pain patch to ease his pain. They are monitoring his temperature and head aches. We are working with the Hospice lead at the hospital. We will be transferring him to a skilled nursing facility soon. I do wish that I could have found this site before we agreed to the radiation, but who knows what would have happened if we didn't do the treatment. Will update again... Christopher

Hi all, I'm glad I found this site. My name's Christopher, the son of a 69 year old dad who has stage IV LC and brain mets. Dad was diagnosed on 12/2/05 while hospitalized for stroke like symptoms. The found a 5.8 mass on his right upper lobe and some irregularities in his brain. After a few CTs, it was found that he had a large brain metastasis in his right frontal lobe, and a smaller one in his left side. We were setup with a treatment plan that the brain mets were "treatable", and then they'd treat the lung with chemo. During dad's hospitalization, they found blockage on both sides of the charatoid arteries. They were going to evaluate the arteries after the radiation treatmeant to the brain mets. Dad finished up 10 treatments of radiation to the brain on 12/28. He was feeling pretty good, but was getting tired every day. One week after his 10th treatment, he was really wiped out. All he wanted to do was sleep. On 1/5/06, he was hospitalized because he wasn't able get up. He was dehydrated and still wanted to sleep. The following days after his hospitalization, something happened. He became incoherent and wasn't able to open his eyes. For about a week, we was getting IV fluid and the doctors were adjusting his meds. He was on Decadron. They have been slowing the doseage down. Fast forward to today, the 23rd. He's been hospitalized since the 5th of January. The doctors do not believe his mental state will return. We have been told to contact hospice. My dad is 69 years old and was "healthy" up until the 5th of January. He's now confined to the bed and will open is eyes and talk a little bit. His mental state still has not returned. Has anyone experienced this? The oncologist says that people with his condition, mass and mets, the average life expectancy is 2-4 months. With dad's current condition, we're not sure where we are at. We can't watch him suffer and need to make sure he's comfortable. Chemo is out of the question, as they want to make his remaining time comfortable. The problem that I have, is that he is not comfortable. If he knew what type of condition he was in, he wouldn't want to continue. Sorry for the long post, I'm just frustrated that after a short time after his radiation treatment, my dad has become like this. We are working with the hospice team to see what can be done to bring him home. If anyone has experience with hospice and when you knew your loved one's last days was, I'd appreciate to hear about it. Thanks, Christopher