-
Diagnosed with lung cancer and the IPF
Greeting. Thank you for accepting me into this forum. I join this forum so that I can get info and learn and hopefully share my observation/experience as a caretaker. My name is Herman and I am the caretaker of my dad, Sulayman. He will be 90 years old in Nov of this year.
My dad was diagnosed with a non-small cell lung cancer of the squamous type back in 16 Aug 2023. At the time of diagnosed, his lung was not in a good shape to begin with. He had tuberculosis when he was young and he was a smoker. He quits smoking for over 20 years or so.
After weighting the risk and benefit, he went thru a series of radiotherapy to kill the tumor on his lung. Because of his age, the doctor didn’t recommend chemo or surgery. The procedure was considered a success as the size of the tumor was reduced. However, the doctor noticed pneumonitis on his lung. He didn’t experience any side effects from the radiotherapy.
In 23 May 2024, my dad experienced breathlessness. His oxygen saturation went below 90 and he started to be oxygen dependent then. The flow rate of the oxygen is at 5 litre per minute. He used oxygen concentrator to sleep and portable oxygen concentrator when he went out of the house. However, beginning in March of this year, he is fully dependent on pure oxygen. During this time, the doctor diagnosed him to have IPF.
He started taking Ofev (Nintedanib 150mg twice a day) in Jun 2024. Doctor also gave 10mg of Sildenafil taken twice daily as well for his pulmonary hypertension. Thank God, he didn’t have any adverse side effects from Ofev. We also monitor his liver and kidney function thru blood test.
I see his condition slowly deteriorate. Now, he is complaining about having discomfort on his chest and throat. He also experiences fatigue, no interest in food and ache around his neck and shoulder. To sooth him on his aching neck and shoulder, we give him massages.
Questions:
1. Can anyone of you share with me the types of discomfort you may have experience due to IPF?
2. The doctor informed me that the discomfort my dad is feeling on his chest and throat may be due to gastric reflux and recommend that he takes 40mg of Omeprazole twice a day. Has anyone of you experienced the same and has to take medication to control the gastric reflux? Besides, medication, how do you find relief?
3. Has anyone of you experience ache on your neck and shoulder? How to find relief?Thank you in advance for reading my story and I hope I can learn from and contribute to this forum.
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.
Log in to reply.