Old symptom and more
TCM at Kepala Batas Hospital refused to give an appointment to dad because they do not accept metastatic cancer patient: if their needles touch the cancer cells, there's a risk of worsening the state of the cells.
Meanwhile, even though dad took Oxynorm only 3 times a day, significantly down from 9 times, he was also taking 2 tab (500mg each) of paracetamol once every sub-4 hours. This was because of the returning back pain, which was gone during the 2nd line chemotherapy. I advised him to make sure he didn't exceed 12 paracetamols within 24 hours. Later, he had to take Tramadol 3 times a day to manage the back pain :(
His swollen feet worsened. He wasn't able to prop up his feet while sleeping, as suggested by PCU to alleviate the swelling, because he hadn't been sleeping well on bed and so mostly was sleeping either on the sofa or the lazy chair. I asked him to try propping his feet so that they were above his waist level.
There were 2 pieces of good news though: the numbness lessened substantially to be "ok" while there was no more knee pain (probably due to the glucosamine+chondroitin+MSM tablets and the Flexisec gel). Still, the emergence of back pain is a great concern.
His feet swelled bigger daily. Massage helped to reduce it but only for a short while. Yet, he still didn't elevate his feet, despite reminders from my sister and I. Argh! My sister felt bad for him, despite initial frustration at his stubbornness, and so brought him to see a GP upon his request. She was hoping that a reminder from a doctor would nudge him to do so.
From the GP:
Meanwhile, even though dad took Oxynorm only 3 times a day, significantly down from 9 times, he was also taking 2 tab (500mg each) of paracetamol once every sub-4 hours. This was because of the returning back pain, which was gone during the 2nd line chemotherapy. I advised him to make sure he didn't exceed 12 paracetamols within 24 hours. Later, he had to take Tramadol 3 times a day to manage the back pain :(
His swollen feet worsened. He wasn't able to prop up his feet while sleeping, as suggested by PCU to alleviate the swelling, because he hadn't been sleeping well on bed and so mostly was sleeping either on the sofa or the lazy chair. I asked him to try propping his feet so that they were above his waist level.
There were 2 pieces of good news though: the numbness lessened substantially to be "ok" while there was no more knee pain (probably due to the glucosamine+chondroitin+MSM tablets and the Flexisec gel). Still, the emergence of back pain is a great concern.
His feet swelled bigger daily. Massage helped to reduce it but only for a short while. Yet, he still didn't elevate his feet, despite reminders from my sister and I. Argh! My sister felt bad for him, despite initial frustration at his stubbornness, and so brought him to see a GP upon his request. She was hoping that a reminder from a doctor would nudge him to do so.
From the GP:
- Most important thing to do is to elevate his legs as much as possible. Sitting as usual will definitely worsen it.
- Use compression socks for 2-3 hours a day.
- Once a while drink juice made from a certain type of Indian melon when having bad water retention.
- Prescribed a low dosage of Fusix (low dosage because of the sole kidney) to lessen retention. Take for 3 days. If the swelling comes back after 2-3 days, take for another 2-3 days.
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