How to reduce infection risk ..?

[Vip1]

Hello all first time posting here.

A brilliant forum!

Question about my Dad who was diagnosed with Stage 4 a couple of months ago.

The chemo due to start was delayed by an infection around the area they take the pleural/water effusion/discharge every few days.

Seems like such a vulnerable area and one where we've not really been advised what to do to minimise the chances of this happening.

Does anyone have any advice pls on that ... ?

How to reduce the risk of infection ..?

Really sad my dad unable to start his chemo (he was looking forward) and aware that we need to reduce these infections to give him that opportunity for treatment to begin.

Thank you so much

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hello Vip1

Welcome to our forum, I sorry to hear that your dad has been diagnosed with lung cancer and completely understand that you will both be disappointed that he has not started his chemotherapy regime. This type of treatment as I am sure you know will impact your dads immune system making him very vulnerable to infection, before starting any treatment his team will want to make sure that he is in the best possible condition with any underlying residual infections treated before commencing.

The best advice is to keep the area affected clean and dry and to take prescribed antibiotics to help fight the infection. A balanced diet can also help with wound healing and fighting infection, there are lot of recipe ideas on line

wcrf-uk.org/wp-content/uplo...

macmillan.org.uk/cancer-inf...

If there is anything else you would like to discuss you can email ask the nurse at [e-mail] or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600

Kind regards

Roy Castle Support Team