Please help my dad if you can...

Question

My father is a type II diabetic. He also is a smoker of 43 years and a recovering heart attack patient with a defib. pace maker. He is 74 years old and highly irritable and emotional. He gets confused easily, is sick most of the time, has pain in his upper/center abdomen with a small bulge he says he can feel. He monitors his blood sugar, visits his doctor regularly and takes his medications religiously. However, he is growing more and more sickly day by day. His most common complaints are severe dizzyness, nausea and stomach pain/discomfort accompanied by a "noisy" and/or "active" sounding stomach. He says he feels a little better if he eats something and during the first few conscious minutes in the mornings. But other than that he is miserable. Why can't he find any kind of reprieve or escape from his illnesses? What are his doctors missing? Or is a man his age with this many problems just naturally supposed to feel this awful every day? Any and all input would be greatly and sincerely appreciated.

CoWriter · Answer

The "small bulge" sounds like a hiatal hernia.  Have him see a gastroenterologist.

WaveRider · Answer

I just read your thread under candie1982's post that was duplicated here. 

"What are his doctors missing?"
I don't know since you failed to mention the types of doctor's seen by your father. Has your father pointed out the "small bulge" to the doctor and/or doctors? Was it just a primary care physician who saw you father? Was he referred to a specialist? It would be nice to know what they had to say about this too. Therefore, without knowing what they did or said, I would concur with peek's statement about seeing a gastro to diagnose your father's abdominal issues. Have him/her check the pancreas and the liver for issues too. Be prepared, this may require extensive testing requiring an assortment of visits to the doctor's office and/or hospital to get to the bottom of his ailments. Good luck.

peekawho · Answer

No, I don't think a 74 y/o man should feel that way, every day of his life.  He sounds miserable.

Can he get another opinion?  If he's only seeing a family practitioner, he may want to see an internal medicine specialist.  Or possibly a Gastroenterologist, since the problem seems to primarily in his stomach, and with nausea and stomach rumblings.

I'm not at all sure this has anything to do with diabetes.  Only a doctor would be able to sort that out.