My dad is suffering from what I beleive is cachexia. Not that I am a dr. but his damned dr.s just don't seem to be concerned with the fact that he's probably 110lbs now and 6 feet 2 inches tall!!! He's drinking three ensures a day and eating ONE thing a day (for example yesterday all he ate was a friggin toaster strudel, JUST ONE! day before that it was a bowl of cereal). He just finished radiation a couple weeks ago and he's barely eaten since. The Dr. doesn't want to see him until MAY SECOND!!!! I'm SO angry right now. He's had rib pain since the radiation, the say it's from the coughing, and maybe they're right but why would they not want to see him after hearing what he's eating??? Instead they booked him for bloodwork... but not until April 23rd!! Has anyone dealt with this symptom of cancer before and if so do you have any suggestions? I think what bugs me the most about this whole thing is that my parents are in such denial about how serious this is and they aren't pushing for better care! Sorry, I just needed to vent to people that understand...thanks for reading. More importantly thanks to whomever created this board....

what kind of lung cancer does he have? my mom had small cell, and in her case, she started getting rib pain and the docs told her probably from all the vomiting from the chemo , that she probably cracked a rib.. well, turns out the cancer had spread to her bones, and the tumors cracked the bones. but that was our case. so, i would just keep pushing the docs, ask them to just do a simple xray or ct scan...

He has NSCLC IIIb, he just had a CT scan on April 4th but doesn't have another appointment with his Dr. to get the results until May 2nd...:mad: I have this overwhelming sense of urgency about all of this but the Dr. doesn't seem to!! I know they've seen this in patients 800 times over but they really need to remember that this is the first time we are going through it...they just don't seem to...I don't even know...be as concerned as we are?? Arrggghhhh this is SO frickin hard!

Ayre, take the bull by the horns call his specialist who did the scan and tell them May 2nd is not good enough. They need to contact you as soon as the scans are done and looked at. The Dr is probably on holidays till May 2nd. Stand up for your folks if they don't know how, time is of the essence with cancer especially if he is not eating and losing weight so fast he could be dehydrated. You do it and be stern.

it does not take a month to get CT scan results, we live in BC and my mom had sclc any scans she had done we had results within days. Call the Dr for your parent's they are scared and confused and don't want to bother anyone. Well bother the Dr's for your dad's sake. Your right they don't take your dad's health personally he is just one of many statistics to them you need to be in their face. When I needed info about my mom I got mad and demanded to know what we needed to know, I finally got listened to and so will you. You can do it.

Ayre,
I overlooked this thread b/c I didnt know what Cachexia was or what! Sorry!
But I just ran across the term in looking something up about my husbands condition on the internet and then saw it again when I got on this site and I totally think he has it as well!
It is scary... the articles make it sound like there is basically nothing that can be done once this process starts... and that people with it die sooner...
it is basically a vicious cycle! If anyone has any positive outcomes with any treatments...please let me know!
I totally see it with my husband... he lost his appetite and almost 30lbs in 2 months BEFORE diagnosis...I know he has lost at least 10-15 more! We have an appt with oncologist tomorrow...I want them to weigh him.
He hardly eats... I thought it was when he had the pleural effusion that the fluid was taking up stomach space...now most of th efluid is drained..he has a chest tube... he ate better after we come home from the hospital a month ago and I was encouraged by that... but the last 3 weeks he MAY eat one thing a day... part of one meal... I got him to eat a pork chop and some applesauce at dinner...but that was it... yesterday I think he had a pc of chicken.... I havent tried ensure..but from what the articles say...the lean body mass cant be built up if they hve this... it is irreversible...
My husband is also 6'2" but fortunately started out clinically obese (266) ...
I know that now he is in the 220 or less range so no where near what you are dealing with... his arms and legs have looked extremely thin compared to what they used to... more so than when they did before at the weight he is now... I am sure it is cachexia eating away at his muscles... The cancer is eating his body...
in reading these articles it all made sense to me how quickly he is going down hill...
I can sympathize with you...I am so sorry you are going through this....i understand the frustration with drs not having a sense of urgency..I am going through this now... this visit tomorrow with the oncologist is the first one ever really... she saw him 2-3 times in the hospital briefly.. and charged $600 I might add...for what??

what does your Dad think of all of this? Does he want to push the dr? My husband doesnt seem that interested in doing it... he wants the last couple of radiation treatments to be done so they can hopefully take the chest tube out... i am not sure if he wants to do chemo or not. He is so weak..I dont know if he would or could fo rthat matter...

From what I read cachexia robs what little energy and quality of life you have left... my husband is on the couch or bed all day and it is all he can do to go to radiation....that is only 30 min out of the day..including travel time!
he missed alot to where to dr wanted to stop them but he said he wanted to finish b/c he knew he would die sooner without them...but I dont know what will get him first...that or cachexia...

vent all you want...that is what we are here for!
I wish you well during this time....