Breathing difficulties - 1250334

joemartin84
Posts:9

Hi,

My father completed his 10 cycles of WBR on 10/12. After couple of weeks he developed severe breathing problem and his oncologists told that he has pleural effusion. they took nearly 1.5 litre of fluid from his lungs. Yet, he was not able to breathe properly, yesterday he had severe breathing problem and around half a litre of fluid was drained from his lungs. However, draining the fluid did not help him much. He is still experiencing severe breathing problem, he is not even able to sit and watch television. His oncologist is just saying that his cancer is aggressive, but we dont know what exactly causing the breathing trouble. I am afraid that we are looking at a wrong place for his breathing difficulties.

Is there a chance that WBR can cause breathing difficulties?

Thanks.
Martin

56 Father
DX 08/11 Stage IV NSLC- adenocarcinoma - mets to clavicular region and stomach
09/11 - 6 cycles Carbo/alimta - 70% shrinkage
01/12 - Alimata - Slight Progression
03/12 - 6 Cycles Docetaxel - 30% Shrinkage
06/12 - No treatement
09/12 - Brain Mets - found in CT
10/12- WBR completed.

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Reply # - November 16, 2012, 09:08 PM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

I'm sorry that he's having such problems with his breathing. That's obviously very uncomfortable for him and I'm sure worrisome for you.

To answer your question, though, it would be pretty much unfathomable that WBR could cause breathing problems.

-Dr. West

Reply # - November 16, 2012, 09:28 PM

joemartin84
Posts: 9

Thanks Dr.West for the quick reply. Are there any diagnostic method that can help us to identify the cause for his sudden difficulty in breathing? I am really sorry for asking this very general question.

Thanks,
Martin

Reply # - November 17, 2012, 08:43 AM

joemartin84
Posts: 9

Thanks Janine. The link was very useful.
My father, his mouth and throat become dry very often and he is drinking lots of water. We dont know what to make out of this. Has anyone know about this symptom?

Thanks,
Martin

Reply # - November 17, 2012, 01:34 PM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

I wonder if he might have a salt imbalance that is leading to these symptoms. Otherwise, if he's breathing through his open mouth because of the shortness of breath, that can certainly lead to a dry mouth and thirstiness.

-Dr. West

Reply # - November 17, 2012, 07:45 PM

laya d.
Posts: 714

Hi Martin:

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad's breathing problems. My Mom also is having a lot of trouble with her breathing. The weird part is that her oxygen saturation rates remain normal (in the 98% range) even when she is exerting herself. We spent the better part of yesterday at her cancer-hospital's ER, while they were trying to figure all this out. After all the test were run and a chest x-ray was taken, they explained that the lungs have "stretch receptors" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_stretch_receptors ). Sometimes when there is tumor in the mediastinal lymph nodes pressing against the bronchial tubes and/or are encasing the bronchial tubes, the stretch receptors think that something is in the lung and that the body may be deprived of oxygen (even if it is not). So, these stretch receptors signal to the brain, "Hey, we may be running out of oxygen cause something is in here--Do something!" So then the brain tells the heart to work harder to get O2 to the body (resulting is a much faster heart beat even when sedetary), and the person becomes very short of breath even at rest. Labs, O2 levels, and the hearts function all will test normal in this scenario - - but the patient will have a much higher heart rate and exhaustion. In any event, I don't know if any of this is relevant to you guys...AND I'm NOT a medical doctor. In fact, from what I understand, shortness of breath can have many different causes, and only your Dad's docs can figure it out for him. But, I just wanted to share our very recent experience with you in this regard in case it's relevant. For my Mom, the Docs said that quelling the signals from the stretch receptors will really help her symptomology - -and this is done by way of prescribing opiates or taking double the recommended dose of over-the-counter Aleve 2x a day. Also, steroids (dexamethasone 8mg 2x a day). Anyway, my Mom's breathing and comfort level has improved greatly since starting this regimen yesterday.

Laya

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