Hello all,
I am wondering how my sister and I can be more helpful without being pushy. My Uncle has never married and with no children he is accustomed to being alone - in short he feels he can handle this alone.
The doctors have now preformed a: CAT- which didn't give much information due to him being unable to drink much solution, a PET- which showed the cancer had not spread, and yesterday had an endoscopy which resulted in a stint (Thank goodness because he could barely swallow liquids on good days). Thus far the GI has stated he is only in stage N2 however they won't tell us what the T stage is.
With all of that being said we are hopefull that he will have a good few years however given his current health I fear the worse.
How important is it that someone be there throughout the night with him once he starts his treatments?His Oncologist states that most patients drive themselves to treatment- To me that sounds insane, I feel we should be there as support, but who am I to argue with the Dr.... I have also read about bacterial infections and am concerned (Although a tidy bachelor there are trouble areas that he refuses to let anyone clean)
Thanks for your thoughts!
If your uncle is 78, has both emphysema and cancer, it sounds as though he has not long to live, no matter what the doctors do. He may need to go into a nursing home despite his desires to handle it alone because he may have to be tube fed if he can't swallow.
I think you should prepare yourself for the ultimate outcome.