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From: Paul Moloney on 15 Sep 2008 05:40
Hi all,

My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 months ago, at age 89.
It had already spread to the bones, and the prognosis was that he
would have perhaps a year, maybe more.

10 days ago he was admitted back to hospital with vomiting and
weakness. On Friday, his doctor told he he was suffered from
lymphangitis, and that his life expectancy was now a lot shorter.

The doctor said that there nothing they could so. However, reading up
on lymphangitis suggests that it's an infection curable by
antibiotics. If anyone could explain, I'd be grateful. Currently, my
father is quite well - although too weak to walk around much, he's not
in pain and back in good spirits.

Thanks in advance,

P.
From: safire on 15 Sep 2008 07:23
Paul Moloney wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 months ago, at age 89.
> It had already spread to the bones, and the prognosis was that he
> would have perhaps a year, maybe more.
>
> 10 days ago he was admitted back to hospital with vomiting and
> weakness. On Friday, his doctor told he he was suffered from
> lymphangitis, and that his life expectancy was now a lot shorter.
>
> The doctor said that there nothing they could so. However, reading up
> on lymphangitis suggests that it's an infection curable by
> antibiotics. If anyone could explain, I'd be grateful. Currently, my
> father is quite well - although too weak to walk around much, he's not
> in pain and back in good spirits.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> P.

Could the cancer have spread to the lungs?
This link
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=5049
suggests steroids and/or hormone treatment if that's the case.
Did the doctor explain why antibiotics, steroids and/or hormone
treatment aren't appropriate?
From: ed on 15 Sep 2008 15:18
On Sep 15, 4:40 am, Paul Moloney <pmolo...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 months ago, at age 89.
> It had already spread to the bones, and the prognosis was that he
> would have perhaps a year, maybe more.
>
> 10 days ago he was admitted back to hospital with vomiting and
> weakness. On Friday, his doctor told he he was suffered from
> lymphangitis, and that his life expectancy was now a lot shorter.
>
> The doctor said that there nothing they could so. However, reading up
> on lymphangitis suggests that it's an infection curable by
> antibiotics. If anyone could explain, I'd be grateful. Currently, my
> father is quite well - although too weak to walk around much, he's not
> in pain and back in good spirits.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> P.

I don't want to give you false hope, but you should check out:
http://www.compassionateoncology.com/pdfs/TRTcase_reports_03_07.pdf

The case history of the first patient listed was a man who had a PSA
of 3346 and had been given a few months left to live. 3.5 years
later, he was still alive with a PSA of less than 1 and holding
stable. I'm not saying that this would happen to your father, just
that you should not trust your father's life in the hands of a single
doctor, especially one who seems to have given up all hope.

Ed Friedman
From: Alan Meyer on 17 Sep 2008 15:26
Paul Moloney wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 months ago, at age 89.
> It had already spread to the bones, and the prognosis was that he
> would have perhaps a year, maybe more.
>
> 10 days ago he was admitted back to hospital with vomiting and
> weakness. On Friday, his doctor told he he was suffered from
> lymphangitis, and that his life expectancy was now a lot shorter.
>
> The doctor said that there nothing they could so. However, reading up
> on lymphangitis suggests that it's an infection curable by
> antibiotics. If anyone could explain, I'd be grateful. Currently, my
> father is quite well - although too weak to walk around much, he's not
> in pain and back in good spirits.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> P.

I presume the doctors have already tried antibiotics. If
not, they certainly should.

Unfortunately, due to overuse of antibiotics, including
drenching our agricultural animals and lands with them, a
great many bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics and
some are resistant to all of them. Many hospitals are also
rife with antibiotic resistant pathogens.

At age 89, your Dad does not have the same natural immune
resistance of a younger man, and that may make both the
infection and the cancer much more difficult to resist.
Treatments that might help a younger man might not work as
well or not work at all.

At this point I would suggest a two pronged approach. On
the one hand I would look at the suggestions made by the
other posters and consider getting consultations from
additional doctors. Perhaps there is something that would
extend his life by some months or even years.

On the other hand I would also suggest helping your Dad to
get his affairs in order. Perhaps there are things he
would like to write down or record for the family. Maybe
there are things he wants to do that he hasn't done before,
or things that he wants to do again. Maybe there are places
or friends and family that he would like to see. Maybe
some of his legal and financial affairs need attention.

If he does survive the infection but succumbs to the cancer,
he will probably have to face considerable pain and
disability. There are palliative drugs and treatments and
hospices that can make a huge difference with that. It
might be a good idea to learn about some of the options
now and be prepared in case he needs them in the future.

I'm glad your Dad is in good spirits. It sounds like he
is a brave and resourceful man. I hope that I am like
that too if I reach his age.

Best of luck to him and to you and the family.

Alan
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