Hello to all. My name is Patrick, and my father has stage 4 mouth cancer of the mouth and lymph node. THis is his second go around with the disease, he beat cancer of the vocal cords about 15 years ago. He just turned 58 on the 14th. Unfortunatley the first time was not a wake up call, because he continued to smoke and drink heavily. Let me say first off that he is not a bad abuser, just a man who can not let go of his demons. A little backround on this cancer, diagnosed a little ever a year and a half ago, my father was very scared and hid it from the family, until this January. He was without insurance and had to go to a county hospital here in Chicago, IL. Needless to say the care was not top rate. Only recently have we been able to take him to a good hospital, when he finally got approved for Medicaid. Since april 15th he has had a trach tube put in, a G tube for feeding, and all of his teeth removed before starting his treatment. Treatment consisted of 8 weeks of radiation and 3 Chemo sessions. He has run into so many setbacks it is just tearing us apart. After every chemo session he came down with pnemonia. Mostly due to lack of a well trained nursing staff at the hospital, his trach has been a nightmare. getting him to clean has been a nightmare. G-tube feedings with ensure has not even gone right. After the last session about a month ago, it was so bad that he passed out in my house, thank god my wife was home to call an ambulance. His blood oxygen level has at 74 % abd his blood pressure was very, very low. Throughout the treatment he has become more and more depressed, and he was very depressed to begin with. I think he has lost his will to fight. He is constantly giving the nurses in the hospital a hard time and refusing a lot of help. He will not talk to anyone, and keeps his thoughts and worries to himself. He is not the person I grew up with right now, and I am loosing my hope also. He is down to 105 pounds from 140, and still loosing weight. He is not digesting his food and from the pnemonia one of his lungs has partially collapsed. And to top it off, he devloped a staff infection (MRSA)on his birthday, causing us to cancel our palns to bring his my 11 month old daughter and my sisters 16 month old son in too cheer him up. He needs a lot of rehab to get his strength back, and get his jaw muscles and swallowing back. He won't even get out of bed. I am not sure what I am looking to achieve from posting here, maybe someone can help me figure out how to help him find the strength. I have tried everything I can think of, from planned fishing trips which he loves to bringing in pictures of his grandchildren, which he loves even more. Anything would be aprreciated, even if it's just someone to vent with. Please feel free to ask any questions, as I have been the one doing most of the work regarding care and doctors to medicaid and anything else I can think of. Thanks in advance.

Patrick Kelly

Hello, I thought only English hospitals had MRSA, when someone is very ill it is very hard to get strength back, I am sure Dr Vinod may have some ideas.

hello patrick, how is your father doing now?and you and your family? my dad has the same problem so i know what you are going through, keep your chin up

You vent all you want, my husband is the one who had throat cancer and is still dealing with obtacles. But I need to spill my guts out alot.

Terry

Hi Patrick, How is your father doing today?
How are you holding up? I had tongue cancer in
1990 and it takes a lot out of you. I do hope you are doing okay please write?
Cathy