OK ... the tablets didn’t work and the urologist opened up for us on Xmas Eve and changed the meds to a patch called Oxytrol. What an AMAZING difference almost overnight. If your loved one has incontinence .... ask about this product! He still has the occasional leak, but no more 3-4 times a day and night but now wears pads and pull ups more as insurance .... I actually slept thru a couple of nights!
In early January, other things happened that resulted in a dual hernia diagnosis .... and he had an operation to effect a repair. Unfortunately the surgeon encountered problems and couldn’t complete the op without possibly causing damage to other organs due t what he could see in the abdomen, so he took samples for biopsy and closed him up. He was in hospital 4 days, recovering, and told all the nurses that I’d abandoned him there for no reason! LOL. His dementia was speaking!
A week later we saw the surgeon for his report and the biopsy and he said it was cancer. The report showed it was metastatic, from his earlier stomach cancer in 2010. He had most of his stomach removed back then from a particularly aggressive cancer, followed by chemo. It had returned, elsewhere. The surgeon organised a PET Scan for last Wed and today we got the results and report.
Advanced cancer in numerous sites. Surgery is not a consideration. I should hear from my Onc tomorrow for an urgent appointment to see what treatment options are available to him. Radiation is unlikely, as that targets specific tumours and I think he has too many.
The dementia also means he’s been almost blissfully unaware of everything and keeps forgetting his diagnosis ... which is almost good! He is not in pain or discomfort and I hope it stays that way - apparently this is not unusual for dementia sufferers! One of the few benefits of dementia. I have Plan B for pain control too, as I don’t want him doped up on opiates if pain DOES become an issue.
This really sucks. Covid stuffed our plans of travelling last year .... and now this. :(
Hug your partner and kids - and if you notice something ‘weird’ with your body .... don’t wait! Get it checked out. Even if nothing is found ‘then’, it becomes a part of the history and the Dr may remember that when someone else complains of the same thing!
