My husbands pancreatic cancer situation

[sooty]

Hi David, so sorry about your father in law, well from experience with my husband the worst thing for this condition is constipation, my husband was constipated for 10 days and the District Nurse said this is one of those conditions that can be very serious, he takes laxido x2 daily to keep on top of this. A stent was initialy put in him via his ribcage as the camera could not get past the tumour this helped with the jaundice, also he takes creon 40000 with food, this is an artificial enzyme to help food be digested and hopefully to put some weight on. My husband was discharged from hospital today and hopefully going to feel better on insulin, by the way when i phoned his GP this morning he said in hindsight he should have tested his blood more often (January and then due again April) now will be sooner. We have Marie Curie on standby for help. All the best to you and your family.

[laura]

hi there sooty, glad that your hubby is out today, he will be so much happier at home, as im sure you will be to have him back, hope things go more smoothly now , and as your gp seems to be more on board, together with m,c, hopefully life will be better for both of you, we are always here if you want a "chat". take care love laura x

[sooty]

Hi, well he has been home a few days now, the diabetes is all over the place, readings of blood sugar from 10 to 30.5, insulin injected is now 22. He has had a stabbing pain in his stomach since he came home, severe at times so I phoned his GP who said double his morphogesic to take 60mg morning and night and to immediately take 2x5ml oralmorph. He hates oralmorph and only took the one dose, no more. He is very tired and unable to eat as he says foods will not go down it seems to get stuck in his osophogus !? any idea what that is?.The GP said phone him tomorrow with an update but I feel I want him examining..again..what should I do?. Regards and best wishes to you all..you have no idea how much I rely on this site, Sooty

[laura]

hi sooty,, sorry to hear you have yet more problems, cant give you an accurate answer to your hubbys discomfort, try smaller ammounts of food more often, and perhaps try soft easy to swallow things like custard, blancmange, porridge etc, but keep portions small. can you get hold of your M.C nurse, i dont know how much clout they have, but certainly our M,M nurse can sort out meds, hosp,etc, maybe worth a try, thinking of you, laura xx

[sooty]

Hi Laura, well he is eating very little, yesterday he had one wheatabix, a small scone with jam ( suitable for diabetics) and for dinner he had half a muller light yoghurt, he could not finish it as it would not go down !. Well as for MC nurse we are registered with the local hospice where they are based however they said after the initial meeting with us that we did not as yet need their involvement so I have not asked them for help yet as I am not sure at what stage we have to be at to warrant it.He just went for a small walk to help ease his tummy pain and it seems to have worked, now in a nice warm bath. Thankyou Laura for your help, hope things are going ok with you and that you have met up with your sister now? xx

[sooty]

no better today, has not eaten anything and when he drinks he says it hurts ...tummy very distended, phoned his GP, who suggested it was "wind" !! and to take Gaviscon and an extra morphogesic thisevening. I am not at all convinced that this is wind,he is in too much pain for it to be that, he tries walking to ease the pain but bends double at times. On a positive note his blood sugars are balancing out with readings between 7 to 16. Maybe because he is not eating ?. No idea. The doctor is coming to see him tomorrow so hopefully will get some answers or pain relief, fingers crossed ..Sooty

[Bec76]

Has your husband been put on MST morphine sustained release? My husband was given that whilst in hospital and it's controlled his pain, he has cut back on the tramadol and oramorph. He takes it twice a day 12 hours apart.

[sooty]

Hi Bec, he has never been on tramadol, he takes 30mg of morphogesic morning and night with paracemamol 4 times per day. The doctor came today after examination he said that he was slightly constipated and his liver is now enlarged due to the tumours in it , this is what is making him feel "full" whenever he drinks or tries to eat.The Doc prescribed Gaviscon and to increase his morphogesic to 60mg at night time and to take laxido x4 daily. If no better by Thursday to phone GP for more advice. My husband is not at all well today, no energy and in pain, at times he has a yellow tinge, on the plus side the bloody sugars are stabalising. Best wishes to you and your husband , Sooty

[Bec76]

We stopped the paracetamol as it goes through the liver and didn't want anymore pressure on that. We too have had doctors out today, he is totally confused and dehydrated but his pain is controlled, the doctor calling again tomorrow. My husband doesn't have any energy either. It's such a hard time seeing someone change so rapidly

[sooty]

Ohh so sorry to hear your husband is not well today, do you think it is his blood sugars like my husbands was with the same symptoms ? I also wondered about the amount of paracetamol he takes, seems alot, I think initialy it was because his surgery site did not heal for 12 weeks and it was sore when it was treated daily. At the minute he is in the sun lounge trying to drink a Laxido ! Hope things improve for your husband and he is soon feeling stronger.

[sooty]

Spent the last few days at the hospital ...my husband is so very ill now. I dont want to go into detail about the horrendous circumstances that happened, too upsetting, I just wish I could get some answers or help. Not sure that my husband will come home.

[laura]

dear sooty, so sorry that you are both having such a bad time, i cant imagine how you are sooty. do hope you have someone with you and that your husbands being well cared for.

thinking of you, love laura xx

[louiepc]

Sooty, I hope and pray that things improve with your husband. My thoughts are with you.

Louie xx

[Bec76]

I am so sorry, i hope you have some improvement with your husband, your going through such a worrying time, take care xx

[Nardobd]

Sooty, my thoughts are with you.

Nicki

[sooty]

Thankyou all for your best wishes thoughts and prayers, I get the feeling I know you all now as friends ,united in our common bond. My husband is still in hospital and very unlikely to come home, I dont want to go into details...yesterday he did not recognise me or our 2 children, my son is heartbroken, today I have spent the day with him and although he was asleep he did occasionaly open his eyes and smile, even asked my daughter what she was doing there !. The staff at this hospital are excellent, it is our first time with him to be admitted to this one and I only wish that the surgery had been done here too. They are making provisions for me to stay with him now which will be great. We originaly had planned to care for him at home but for various reasons have decided that in his best interest this is not feasable. Best wishes to all of you, will be in touch as soon as I can xxx

[ali]

Thinking of you and your family

much love

Helen xx

Always truely awful

[PCUK Nurse Jeni]

Hi Sooty,

Thinking of you at this difficult time.

Jeni.

[rachelqt]

Hi Sooty, im so sorry to read that you are having such a hard time right now. Prayers are with you..Rachel x

[CFF]

Sooty,

It sounds as if your husband is now in good hands and they are taking care of him. Thinking of you at this really difficult time.

xxx

[sooty]

Hi, not sure what to update with..things go good for an hour or so then down again..he is still in hospital, an endoscopy proved no good as only able to get 25cm down before hit a blockage but still not sure what is blocking what!. A syringe drive is in place for morphine and domperadine, and 2 hourly shots of oxymorph,also a saline drip. Still unable to drink or eat, if he has a sip of water he is in agony again. No more agitation thank goodness, he seems to sleep upto 90% of the day. I came home to sleep tonight on the Staff Nurses advice. the staff in this hospital are so fantastic, at last we feel we are actualy human beings, pity it could not have been like this for the past 7 months...Best wishes to everyone

[louiepc]

Sooty

I am sorry things are so bad for you and your husband.

I am glad that he is being cared for well, and the syringe driver will be able to administer pain relief whilst he's asleep.

Remember, even if he's sleeping, he can probably still hear you. Read or talk to him if you can.

Thinking of you at this difficult time.

Louie xx

[laura]

hello there sooty, pleased to hear from you, and its good that you feel,at last, that your hubby and you are getting the care and acknowledgement that you have asked for all along. im sure you are relieved that hubby is sleeping and comfortable, hope you both have a good nights sleep,

i did get to see my sister, thank you, she caught abus to exeter and i drove up from cornwall, we then went to a guesthouse in exmouth, had two and a half day away, weather was brill, and we managed to catch up, and bri, surprise surprise, survived very well, did a couple of small jobs for me that had been waiting a while!, he appeared to thoroughly enjoy having the house to himself for a while and eat and sleep when he wanted.

hows your dad?

anyway, my thoughts with you both,

love laura xx

[sooty]

Hi Louiepc, thankyou, yes I realise he can still hear so I don't talk or ask questions in his hearing, the nursing staff are so patient with us when we ask things. Tuesday was a very bad day, he was literaly climbing the walls, not with pain but agitation, anyway when i saw the pain nurse I told her that he always hated oramorph as he said it sent him "off his head" so could we not write him off just yet could we try a different form of morphine, she readily agreed and he has nto felt that way since.Very sleepy and I guess we are at the endstage now.

Hi Laura, great that you met with your sister and had a great time, I am sure it did you the world of good, unfortunatley with things not going well here I have yet to see my father, cannot believe that in May I will have only seen him 3 times in a year ! when usualy i go up for the weekend every 5 to 6 weeks, Bless him he is being a star about it but even so I would love to see him and have a hug...one day, Best wishes to you both xx

[louiepc]

Hi Sooty

My mum hated oramorph, I think it had a similar effect if I remember rightly. She used to hallucinate and have terrible nightmares with it. There was some other drugs that was then administered. Unfortunately the hospice team didn't really understand that mum didn't like Oramorph, and kept insisting that she take it. I'm very pleased that you are getting the care that you both need and deserve.

take care

louie xx