Father in law is diagnosed with throat cancer stage IV.age 72yrs.is chemotherapy possible?

Question

his weight is 50kg.Doctors feel he is too weak for chemotherapy.now he is having problem in swallowing food and sometimes water too.he is also having difficulty in speaking. sometimes blood comes out from his mouth.what are the chances of recovery and how much is he going to live?is it possible to give him food through some other means.is there any kind of therapy possible?plz reply soon as i feel less time is left.thank u

Answer 1

My friend was diagnosed last year with stage 4 breast cancer.  She knew her days were numbered, but wanted to spend them as "well" as possible, so she arranged with the oncologist to receive very low doses of chemo.

She lived longer than docs thought she would... but did ultimately succumb to the disease a couple of weeks ago and died this past Sunday.

I'm not sure what the chances are given your description of what's going on with your dad.  Someone who might be able to give you more answers is the American Cancer Society.  

Here is the website link: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index...

There are also phone numbers on that site, as well.   My friend was treated at the V.A. hospital and they were extremely unhelpful in helping her get answers to her questions. The ACS provided her with much more info.

Good luck to you and your dad and blessings to you, as well.

Answer 2

I have a good friend that beat stage 4 borderline stage 5 lymphoma with chemo and a supplemental product. He is in his late 60s. His recovery was quite impressive. I can't say that it was the product he was taking or that you would have any results but if you would like to read his story and see why we became involved, you can view it on my personal web site at http://web.mac.com/edriczaruba1  

Best Regards

Edric Zaruba

Answer 3

Sorry to tell you. There is no curative treatment is available for your father. Chemotherapy might provide a slight increase in the days he might live but it might also cause him to die sooner.  Given your description your father must be miserable so I am not sure why you would want to prolong his life in his current condition with no hope for recovery. If it were my dad I'd get hospice involved immediately - tomorrow. Here is a link with many hospice related links and info listed.

http://www.hospicenet.org/index.html

Here is one of the hospice links that will be helpful to you.

http://www.hospicenet.org/html/preparing...

I'm sorry I do not have better news. I've been through this with my own father and so I know how hard this will be.  good luck