# My dad has lung cancer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578 "2023-03-02T04:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/21 "2023-04-13T17:46:13Z")
That’s the name. My mother had a lobe of her lung removed due to metastasized breast cancer and I had to make sure she practiced with it. Despite being a smoker, her lung capacity was pretty good due to her swimming regularly for years. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/22 "2023-04-13T18:06:14Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Despite being a smoker, her lung capacity was pretty good due to her swimming regularly for years. She did herself a solid it turns out! Glad it is working out for her. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/23 "2023-04-13T18:12:23Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > She did herself a solid it turns out! Agreed. But the cancer still won out in the end. She refused chemo because she thought the cure was worse than the disease. We had long discussions about it. I was not able to sway her. It was her choice and she was in her mid-70s when she passed. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/24 "2023-04-13T18:14:57Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > It was her choice and she was in her mid-70s when she passed. May her memory be a blessing. Sounds like you were a good child to her, allowing her choice even though it brought you pain. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/25 "2023-04-13T22:52:32Z")
Even nowadays, TBH sometimes it is, and it was her right to make that decision. Dad is in a regular room, eating solid food, and getting out of bed. Not sure when he’ll get to go home, but it probably won’t be very long. They did have to give him a transfusion, and put him in the cardiac ICU overnight because they were concerned about internal bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/26 "2023-04-13T23:41:11Z")
That’s great news! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/27 "2023-04-14T21:43:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Dad is in a regular room, eating solid food, and getting out of bed. This is great to hear. Recovering pretty well, glad to hear the hospital staff is being careful though. You go, Dad! Re: my mother. Agreed it was her choice but naturally, there’s a long story behind it. I let it rest. If I were in her place when the cancer came back, I would choose the same. But if I were in her place when she initially got the cancer, I would have chosen differently from her. Such is personal choice. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/28 "2023-04-16T03:07:29Z")
Update: Dad would be in the ICU, whether cardiac or “regular”, but both wards are full, so he’s being carefully watched in a regular room, due to labile blood pressure. He isn’t being allowed out of bed without assistance until it stabilizes. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/29 "2023-04-16T22:13:03Z")
Fingers crossed for him that it stabilizes soon. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/30 "2023-04-19T02:18:20Z")
Another update: He was finally moved TO the ICU, but he stayed there longer than he needed to be there, because the regular med/surg ward was also full. They thought he would be able to come home today, but his BP is still trending lower than they would like so he’s going to be there another day at the least. However, he’s walking around (yes, they let him do that in the ICU!) and eating, and really itching to get out of there. He did say that the most painful part of the whole process so far was having the drain removed. I’ve definitely heard that pulling a chest tube, if that’s what it was, ranks up there with other extremely painful things. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/31 "2023-04-19T20:53:37Z")
Happy to hear this. Go Dad! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/32 "2023-04-25T23:31:35Z")
Dad finally came home today, after 13 days in the hospital, not 5 days like the surgeon anticipated, but he kept having all kinds of relatively minor complications and they wanted these to all get worked out before sending him home. My mother called to tell me, and I asked to speak to him but she said he was asleep. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/33 "2023-04-26T01:57:56Z")
Hooray for home. That will be a profound relief for him. Things can go from bad to worse to careening out of control and crashing all too easily post-op on an older person with a big problem. Getting home is a huge milestone that should have everyone heaving a big sigh of relief. This doesn’t mean the problem is over, but the wolf is no longer pounding on the door. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/34 "2023-04-26T05:40:33Z")
My brother does a Facebook live when he feels like it, and said, “Dad didn’t get Ensure in the hospital, but then again, he didn’t ask for it.” He’s sure going to be happy about sleeping in his own bed (which for the past few years has been the recliner), using his own bathroom, not having to listen to alarm bells all night, etc. once again. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578/35 "2023-04-26T22:35:15Z")
I imagine it has been a tiring day for him. Glad to hear he is home again and glad to hear that the hospital chose to be cautious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dad-has-lung-cancer/980578.md?page=1)