My mildly depressed, intensely private, hypochondriac and cynical but otherwise physically healthy 82-year-old dad got sick in early April, and has been in a steep nosedive ever since. The immediate threat to his recovery seems to be loss of appetite; he eats and drinks a fraction of normal, is dehydrated and has lost a bunch of weight. Is there some strategy or specialist we should be applying that we don't know about? Right around the first of April my dad started turning yellow. His bile duct was restricted, but the root cause evaded every non-invasive diagnostic approach for a few weeks. Surgery finally revealed a cancerous gall bladder, which was removed. He still needs chemo, if we can get him healthy enough to tolerate it.
Trouble is, he isn't eating or drinking much despite a lot of cajoling and offers of foods he's always liked. Nothing appeals, and various flavors of indigestion cause him to lose some of the little he does consume. My mom says he's eating about 10% of normal. He's become frail, hollow-cheeked, sunken-eyed, and isn't getting better. The gall bladder surgery was almost three weeks ago. He's very weak, and has fallen a few times. This morning he fell out of bed, hit his head, and bled a lot.
Dad has always been uncannily physically healthy; this is the first time he's ever been in a hospital as a patient. However he has also always been a hypochondriac, obsessively thinking and reading about illnesses that might eventually kill him. He distrusts service providers of every stripe, from doctors to plumbers, and is always resistant to getting help. When considering his current circumstances, his hypochondria sets him up for fatalistic confirmation bias; his worst fears seem to be coming true, which is both miserable and validating.
He has a surgeon, who's seeing him for follow-ups. He has a regular GP he's seen for years. An oncologist is on the horizon, but hasn't been seen yet. A physical therapist visits the house a few times each week. The medical team clearly knows he's not eating enough, but none of them seems to have done much more than to tell him to eat more. Is there anything else we can do for him? Some specialist we should ask to see? In case it comes up, his insurance is pretty good, and he lives in a state where medical marijuana is still illegal.
Trouble is, he isn't eating or drinking much despite a lot of cajoling and offers of foods he's always liked. Nothing appeals, and various flavors of indigestion cause him to lose some of the little he does consume. My mom says he's eating about 10% of normal. He's become frail, hollow-cheeked, sunken-eyed, and isn't getting better. The gall bladder surgery was almost three weeks ago. He's very weak, and has fallen a few times. This morning he fell out of bed, hit his head, and bled a lot.
Dad has always been uncannily physically healthy; this is the first time he's ever been in a hospital as a patient. However he has also always been a hypochondriac, obsessively thinking and reading about illnesses that might eventually kill him. He distrusts service providers of every stripe, from doctors to plumbers, and is always resistant to getting help. When considering his current circumstances, his hypochondria sets him up for fatalistic confirmation bias; his worst fears seem to be coming true, which is both miserable and validating.
He has a surgeon, who's seeing him for follow-ups. He has a regular GP he's seen for years. An oncologist is on the horizon, but hasn't been seen yet. A physical therapist visits the house a few times each week. The medical team clearly knows he's not eating enough, but none of them seems to have done much more than to tell him to eat more. Is there anything else we can do for him? Some specialist we should ask to see? In case it comes up, his insurance is pretty good, and he lives in a state where medical marijuana is still illegal.