I know someone who is 66 years-old and in the past 2 years he's had quadruple heart bypass surgery, then they found out he had bladder cancer and they removed his pancreas (he now wears a catheter bag) and one of his kidneys was in poor shape. Now they just found out that he has testicular cancer. Additionally, he never had radiation or chemo and he still eats horribly. I don't know how much more this poor man can take. What do you think his outlook is?
2007-09-07 08:03:42 · 7 answers · asked by whenwillthelambsstopscreaming 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
Well he's not going snowboarding this season... seriously it doesnt look good. give him some love.
2007-09-07 08:07:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The terms single bypass, double bypass, triple bypass and quadruple bypass refer to the number of coronary arteries that are bypassed in the procedure. A quadruple bypass means four vessels are bypassed e.g. LAD (left anterior descending coronary artery), RCA (right coronary artery), LCX (left circumflex artery), and the first diagonal artery of the LAD. Prognosis following heart surgery depends on a variety of factors, but successful grafts typically last around 10-15 years. The older patient can usually be expected to suffer further blockage of the coronary arteries. You state that the patient has had removal of the pancreas. If this is the case then diabetes will set in due to the loss of insulin production which takes place in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. There is another procedure known as the Whipple Operation. In the Whipple operation the head of the pancreas, a portion of the bile duct, the gallbladder and the duodenum is removed. Occasionally a portion of the stomach may also be removed. After removal of these structures the remaining pancreas, bile duct and the intestine is sutured back into the intestine to direct the gastrointestinal secretions back into the gut. However, as you state that the pancreas has been removed, I would not consider this to be of any importance in this discussion. In the history that you offer in your question, you state that Bladder Cancer was found, and that a Catheter bag is in use. This would likely be a Foley catheter which is a thin rubber tube which is put into the bladder. It is used to drain urine out of the body. You give no detail of any medical intervention to the bladder and I assume that none has been undertaken. There are different types of bladder cancer. Nearly all cancers of the bladder start in the layer of cells which form the lining (urothelium) of the bladder. These are called transitional cell or urothelial cell cancers. They come in a very wide range of forms and can behave in very different ways. Other, rarer, types of bladder cancer are squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma. Another type is papillary cancer. If a bladder cancer only affects the inner lining of the bladder, it is known as a superficial cancer. If it has spread into the muscle wall of the bladder, it is called an invasive cancer. I have purposefully not given detailed information of any of these cancers. The treatment for bladder cancer depends on the type of cancer and the stage and grade. The poor shape of the kidney, that you mention, does not contain sufficient information to form any opinion. There are two main types of testicular cancer – seminomas and teratomas. They may be called germ cell tumours. Occasionally testicular tumours can be a mix of both types. I would presume that the patient has Seminomas as this most commonly occurs in men between 25 and 55 years of age. Teratomas usually present in patients of about 15 to 35 years. Other rare types of testicular tumour are Leydig and Sertoli cell tumours. Sometimes a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma can occur in the testicle. All the information of cancer begs the question of the possibility of metastasis. This is the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. Tumours formed from cells that have spread are called "secondary tumours" and contain cells that are like those in the original (primary) tumour. The plural is metastases. Metastases takes place in many ways: through the lymphatic system, through the bloodstream, by spreading through body spaces such as the bronchi or abdominal cavity, or through implantation. From all the information that you give the prognosis would not appear to be good. However, if you are related fairly closely to the patient, you would be advised to obtain more detailed information from the doctor, surgeon and oncologist involved in this case.
I regret the length of my reply, but you made many references.
Hope this helps
matador 89
2007-09-07 08:58:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he "still eats horribly", I suspect his various illnesses are a result of the fact that he has likely never taken very good care of himself and now he is reaping the results of that lack of responsibility. It was his right to do as he pleased, but now he is a burden on everyone for his health care and so forth. I would not call him a "poor man", I would call him irresponsible. And as he continues in the same fashion as he always has, I suspect his outlook is really poor. Frankly, with all those problems mounting up, I personally wouldn't want to live very long, you are talking a major amount of misery, and all brought on by his own poor health habits. Don't misconstrue what I say here, I empathize with his misery, and if it were in my power, would do whatever I could to alleviate it.....but I also know that he is his own worst enemy, and for people like that, there really is nothing you can do to make them better. They have abused their own health for far too long.
2007-09-07 08:12:32 · answer #3 · answered by essentiallysolo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Radiation and chemo just kill cells indiscriminately(meaning both healthy non cancerous as well as concerous). If he has uncontained cancer(meaning it is in his blood as well)the outlook is not good. If it is contained then testicular surgery would have to be done and maybe he has another 15 years. It all depends on his general health.
2007-09-07 08:10:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
His outlook is poor giving he has never gone for radiation or chemo and has a poor diet.
2007-09-07 08:07:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No - it doesn't look good...and eating right won't help at this stage. Let him enjoy the life he has left.
2007-09-07 08:11:33 · answer #6 · answered by Blue Oyster Kel 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
treat every day like it is the last day you have with him
2007-09-07 08:12:00 · answer #7 · answered by Cornell is Hot! 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋