My dad is 61 just diagioned w/ stage 4 lung cancer, he is having severe pain and swelling in the legs-S.O.S!!?

He is a patient at a military hospital and no knows what to do, clueless and giving him diuretics that DO NOT WORK!
The pain in the legs are worse than the pain of cancer....

He refuses marijuana, pain relivers cause even more extensive swelling where the legs begin to web (drip water)

All diuretics are secreted by the proximal tubule and are effective from the luminal site of tubules, thus blocking the reabsorption of salt and water. As soon as diuresis is induced, the body begins to counteract that process. In layman's terms, the first dose causes the kidneys to unload any excess fluids. However, after the first dose, problems can occur. Your body very quickly, by the second and third doses, has less of a response to the diuretic. It tries to preserve intravascular volume through renin secretion, increased filtration fraction, a decrease in renal cortical blood flow, activation of the renal tubular sodium/potassium pump and aldosterone secretion.

To help reduce the body's defensive response, physicians may use two or three different types of diuretics at the same time.

According to Christian W. Mende, M.D. (an expert in the use of diuetics) "You use a loop diuretic plus a thiazide together, and you could add triamterene or Aldactone to that. Then you have three different diuretics blocking; we call this sequential nephron blocking." This sequential blocking process should occur only in the hospital, he added, since patients are likely to lose a lot of potassium, and their electrolytes need to be monitored carefully.

So if the doctors at the hospital are only trying one diuretic, perhaps you could print this out and see if they might give it a try.

My mom had the same thing. It started when she was having difficulty getting out of bed and walking. She laid in bed most of the day. Her legs and ankles swelled, and her calfs were weeping. After a couple of weeks she developed leg ulcers. They were extremely painful, and she used to cry when the nurses changed the bandages. Hers was a circulation problem. The veins(arteries ?) in her legs weren't pumping the blood to her heart properly, and this was one of the signs that the end of her life was approaching. When the end is near, the body only pumps blood to the vital organs.The only thing hospice could do was try and keep her as pain free as possible.

Is your dad going thru chemo? My mom had a HORRIBLE reaction to chemo and that happened to her legs. It could also be that the cancer metasticized into his bones. My mom was diagnosed at stage 4 with lung cancer, and she never smoked. She had HORRIBLE bone pain up until the end. She passed Thursday night.
Have the oncologist see if it could be bone pain from the cancer.
Good luck! It really sucks watching a loved one in pain from cancer.
hugs!

Sorry to hear that.. this is sad......... But, stage 4 my friend meens theres no hope..... sorry....... but, the pain in his legs is from his kidneys shutting down.... i know it sounds stupid...
we went through this with my mother in law..... swelling of the legs meens hes retaining water... which, means if his kidneys are not working its posin..... anyway, i'm not 100% sure this is what it is.... we went through something simmular with my mother inlaw... i hope all works out...

Begin by treating with opiates to control the pain. MRI studies may be necessary to determine where the pain originates, although given the circumstances, a metastatis is a likely cause.

It could be his Sciatic nerve being agitated by something, have them check, and if thats it, it could easily be nerve blocked so that the pain would stop.

My dad had cancer and his legs would swell up really bad and "pit" when touched, it was blood clots from the medication they had him on. It could be that. Blood thinners helped for my dad.