numb painful hands

He does however put a brave face on things.

I can thoroughly sympathise with the golf. Tell him not to give up hope of returning to the course. If the treatment works for your dad as for mine, he could get back on the course yet!!

Thanks very much for you helpful comments. I have told him to speak to his consultant when he goes for his next injection. He is borderline diabetic which was controlled by diet and had his left leg removed a couple of years ago due to gangrene and circulation problems. He never normally lets anything beat him and was back on the golf course with his prosthetic limb within months so this has really got him down. Hopefully if his blood results show the treatment is working it will make him more positive.

Re the tingling hands, there are a couple of things that occur to me. As Rob says, peripheral neuropathy linked to the diabetes needs to be ruled out but I would also wonder whether he has any mets in his upper spine or neck which could be pinching the nerves and causing these symptoms. Do you know exactly where his bone mets are? The other possibility is that the tingling and pain has nothing to do with his diagnosis or treatment .... my dad has been complaining of almost the same thing and has just been diagnosed with arthritis!

As far as him losing weight goes, when we imagine cancer patients (in the days before we are faced with an actual cancer diagnosis in our family maybe) I think we do imagine them to be painfully thin and losing weight rapidly. However, your dad is nowhere near that stage and in actual fact, it is more likely that the hormones would make his weight increase not decrease. Certainly, a thickening tummy is a common side effect. I wonder if you have answered your own question though; you mention that he is feeling low - depression can definitely affect someone's appetite.

I think that there are things going on here that might be related to his cancer but could just as easily be totally unrelated; his medical team are really the only people that can determine what is wrong or what might help. In your position, I would be on the phone sharpish to his specialist nurse (does he have one?) or the oncology department for advice. Did the doctors tell you that his diabetes was borderline or was that what your step-dad told you? I would also be hounding the diabetic nurse as the circulation problems must have been pretty serious if they led to amputation - are his fingers a healthy colour and temperature?

Edited by member 30 Jul 2014 at 21:15  | Reason: Not specified