How to take good care of lung cancer patients? Three elements of life care for lung cancer patients

Lung cancer patients who do not have difficulty swallowing should be free to choose their food. Without affecting the treatment, they should eat more protein- and carbohydrate-rich foods to improve the quality of their diet and create good conditions for surgery.

Once lung cancer patients are found, they often experience pain, bad mood and other conditions. As family members of patients, we must take active nursing measures. It is generally believed that good life care for lung cancer patients should follow three elements: pain control; dietary care; other care. If there is such a patient at home, you might as well learn it.

1. Pain Control

Western medicine is generally not recommended for pain relief, as it mostly works by anesthetizing nerves, which only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Some Western medicines, such as pethidine, are addictive and can cause drug resistance. It is recommended to use the traditional Chinese medicine Zhenqingsan for treatment, which can achieve the purpose of pain relief by cutting off the replication function of cancer cells. Pain is the main symptom of patients with advanced lung cancer and has a great impact on patients. For the control of cancer pain, the three-step analgesia scheme should be correctly understood and applied:

1. Surface analgesia: The purpose of analgesia can be achieved by stimulating the skin around the painful area or the corresponding healthy side. The stimulation method can be massage, applying cooling analgesics, etc., or various temperatures of stimulation, or using a 65℃ hot water bottle on a wet towel for local hot compress, each time for 20 minutes, which can achieve a certain analgesic effect.

2. Attention diversion analgesia method: according to the patient's hobbies, some fast-paced music can be played, and the patient can clap along with the rhythm while appreciating it; or the patient can be asked to read some jokes, humorous novels, and tell a crosstalk for fun. The patient can also be asked to sit in a comfortable chair, close his eyes, and think about his childhood fun, or think about anything he wants to think about, for 15 minutes each time, usually 2 hours after eating, and then close his eyes and sit quietly for 2 minutes, all of which can achieve the purpose of diversion analgesia.

3. Relaxation analgesia: Relaxation of the whole body can make you feel light and comfortable, and muscle relaxation can block the pain response. Let the patient close his eyes, sigh, burp, and then bend his hips and knees to lie flat, relax his abdominal muscles and back muscles, and breathe slowly. Or let the patient close his eyes in a quiet environment and breathe in and out slowly and deeply, so that fresh air can enter the lungs to achieve the purpose of analgesia.

4. Chinese medicine analgesia: Western medicine analgesia is not recommended. Most of its effects are achieved by anesthetizing nerves, which only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Some Western medicines, such as pethidine, are addictive and can cause drug resistance. It is best to use Chinese medicine, such as Zhenqingsan, three times a day, to achieve the purpose of pain relief by cutting off the replication function of cancer cells.

2. Diet care

1. Lung cancer patients who do not have difficulty swallowing should be free to choose their food. Without affecting treatment, they should eat more foods rich in protein and carbohydrates to improve the quality of their diet and create good conditions for surgery. If the nutritional status is poor, it is difficult to tolerate the trauma of surgery, postoperative healing is slow, and infection is easy to occur, which is not conducive to surgical recovery.

2. Elemental diets contain various nutrients necessary for the human body. When there is sufficient calorie supply, protein nutrition can be supplemented to promote muscle protein synthesis. When there is insufficient calorie supply, branched-chain amino acids can also provide more heat energy. There are many types of elemental diets. When using them, start with low concentrations. If taken orally, be careful to drink slowly. Because elemental diets are hypertonic solutions, drinking too quickly can easily cause diarrhea and vomiting.

3. Postoperative diet adjustment: Postoperative diet should be adjusted according to the condition. Because surgical trauma can cause dysfunction of the digestive system, do not rush to choose food and take supplements. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin C, which is a cancer inhibitor that can block the formation of cancer cells. In addition, garlic also contains anti-cancer substances. Develop good living and eating habits, have regular physical examinations, and get timely diagnosis and treatment.

3. Other care

1. Prevention of bedsores: Lung cancer patients in the advanced stage generally have poor nutritional status, sometimes with systemic edema, which makes bedsores very easy to develop, and they spread rapidly and are difficult to cure. It is particularly important to prevent bedsores. Reduce local pressure, change body positions on time, and use air rings, soft pillows, etc. to cushion the parts of the body that are prone to pressure to avoid long-term pressure. Keep the skin clean, especially for patients with incontinence, keep the bed clean and flat, and use a baking lamp to irradiate the broken skin to keep the local area dry.

2. Relieve symptoms: Fever is one of the main symptoms of lung cancer. Patients should be advised to keep warm and prevent colds to avoid pneumonia. For irritating coughs, cough suppressants can be given. When patients have persistent coughs at night, they can drink hot water to relieve irritation in the throat. If there is coughing up blood, hemostatic drugs should be given. When coughing up blood in large quantities, notify the doctor immediately, tilt the patient's head to one side, clear the blood in the mouth in time to prevent suffocation, and assist the doctor in rescue.

3. Observation and care of the condition: Lung cancer patients in the advanced stage often have metastasis of the tumor to different parts, causing different symptoms. They should be observed and given corresponding care. For example, liver and brain metastasis may cause sudden coma, convulsions, and blurred vision. Nursing staff should promptly detect and give symptomatic treatment. Bone metastasis patients should strengthen limb protection. Abdominal metastasis often causes intestinal obstruction. Patients should be observed for symptoms such as abdominal distension and abdominal pain. Due to weakness, fatigue, reduced activity and other reasons, patients often suffer from constipation. Enemas or laxatives should be given in time to relieve constipation. Edema may occur due to malnutrition and low plasma protein. Edema should be reduced by increasing nutrition and raising the affected limb.

4. Psychological care: Lung cancer patients in the late stage may have anxiety, fear, sadness, and often feel indifferent and lonely. We should have a high degree of sympathy and responsibility, and strive to create a warm and harmonious recuperation environment for patients, place them in single wards, speak kindly, be sincere, encourage patients to express their psychological feelings, and guide them in time, and actively introduce information about the improvement of their condition to patients. Patients in this stage are afraid of being ignored and abandoned, and often feel lonely, especially at night, always feeling that death is coming. The care of family members will make patients feel safe, comfortable and warm. We should take various measures to alleviate the pain of patients, which is the basis for good psychological care.