Next: oncologist
Dr P of Adventist Hospital recommended that we consult oncologist for possible systemic treatment of cancer for the rest of dad's body. So we consulted Dr D of Mount Miriam. Unfortunately, since she was not in possession of previous CT scans' images (done at GH), it was better to get a scan done at GH for comparison.
Depending on the comparative results, she recommended:
(1) Radiotherapy if there was significant progress of cancer in one area.
(2) Chemotherapy if there was significant progress of cancer in a few areas.
(3) Monitoring if there was no significant changes.
The proximal femur replacement surgery got rid of a significant source of pain and thus improved his quality of life greatly. However, his daily shortness of breath was affecting his walking and talking. Thus, we took Dr P's and D's suggestion to explore treatment options with the GH's oncologist.
To do that, we tried getting PCU doctor to refer dad to oncologist once more, which she did so after the Xray (she ordered it for us to get it done that morning itself) showed the lungs were clear of liquid, after we highlighted his current main issue i.e. breathlessness, which was affecting his talking, walking and exercise. We were fortunate that there seems to be fewer patients that day and so dad was attended by the senior specialist much quicker than usual, leaving time to go for Xray and then back to her.
Coincidentally, the oncologist who saw us was the same one who ordered the last CT scan. She remembered us :) Although they could order chemotherapy, they wouldn't recommend it because there wasn't data supporting the efficacy of subsequent drugs (after having tried Gemcitabine and FOLFOX) for dad's particular cancer (mucinous adenorcarcinoma, origin suspected to be pancreas). They opined that dad was in a "good condition" after the proximal femur replacement and that going into uncharted territory would bring more harm than benefits. Radtiotherapy wasn't applicable because the lung nodules weren't localised. My sister and I surmised that these meant that there was no point going for another CT scan.
So in terms of treatment, this is as good as it gets...unless we want to 'tikam' i.e. giving chemotherapy a stab in the dark, but not now.
The PCU specialist made a change to dad's medicine to help with this breathlessness: take 10mg Oxynorm twice a day. Apparently opioids are also used to treat breathlessness.
Depending on the comparative results, she recommended:
(1) Radiotherapy if there was significant progress of cancer in one area.
(2) Chemotherapy if there was significant progress of cancer in a few areas.
(3) Monitoring if there was no significant changes.
The proximal femur replacement surgery got rid of a significant source of pain and thus improved his quality of life greatly. However, his daily shortness of breath was affecting his walking and talking. Thus, we took Dr P's and D's suggestion to explore treatment options with the GH's oncologist.
To do that, we tried getting PCU doctor to refer dad to oncologist once more, which she did so after the Xray (she ordered it for us to get it done that morning itself) showed the lungs were clear of liquid, after we highlighted his current main issue i.e. breathlessness, which was affecting his talking, walking and exercise. We were fortunate that there seems to be fewer patients that day and so dad was attended by the senior specialist much quicker than usual, leaving time to go for Xray and then back to her.
Coincidentally, the oncologist who saw us was the same one who ordered the last CT scan. She remembered us :) Although they could order chemotherapy, they wouldn't recommend it because there wasn't data supporting the efficacy of subsequent drugs (after having tried Gemcitabine and FOLFOX) for dad's particular cancer (mucinous adenorcarcinoma, origin suspected to be pancreas). They opined that dad was in a "good condition" after the proximal femur replacement and that going into uncharted territory would bring more harm than benefits. Radtiotherapy wasn't applicable because the lung nodules weren't localised. My sister and I surmised that these meant that there was no point going for another CT scan.
So in terms of treatment, this is as good as it gets...unless we want to 'tikam' i.e. giving chemotherapy a stab in the dark, but not now.
The PCU specialist made a change to dad's medicine to help with this breathlessness: take 10mg Oxynorm twice a day. Apparently opioids are also used to treat breathlessness.
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