Thank you so much to everyone who replied to my message. Today was the hardest day yet as my dad was admitted to the ER and now ICU. I failed to mention that he is also a TYPE 2 Diabetic, and today his blood sugar level just went through the roof due to the liquid food going into his feeding tube being so high in sugar. This also caused extreme dehydration, as well as his sodium level peeking.
The family was at the house all day and all of us kept feeling that it could not be normal how he was so disoriented, confused, irritable and just so completely exhausted he never got out of bed other than to urinate.... but all three doctors we called said it was all normal- due to the erbitux. Finally, near the end of the day the case worker called merely to check in and after hearing my step-mom out said,"call 911...". His blood sugar level alone was over 800.
We are all beside ourselves. The ER doctor said he would have never recommended what liquid food he had been told to use by his doctors, not for a diabetic. They have been using Epitren (I think that's the name).
We are hoping they will get everything under control by tomorrow, and then we will be waiting for a new plan for him. This is all so disappointing as he is just half way through, and now they will more than likely need to take a break on the treatment.
Thank god for the case worker who called. And a lesson learned in just listening to our own instincts.
Thank you all again for all of the wonderful advice shared. Once he is up and running again I will look into some of the things for them to try for constipation, etc.
Audrey