WATER DRAINING FROM LEGS

[dad]

Hi,
My Dad is 72 and has Diabetes, MS, Emphzema and Lung Cancer. He went to the Dr today and he is badly retaing water. They looked at a wound on his leg and water is draining from and around it. They do not know what to do and admitted him to the hospital. Have you heard of this. They have just said that he is retaining so much water that it is leaking out of his skin for some reason and don't know why.
Thank You
Barbi Ashbolt

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hi Barbi -

Any one of the major disease processes your dad suffers from could contribute to accumulation of fluid in the legs. Poorly controlled diabetes can be a primary cause, or can contribute as a secondary cause due to damge to the kidneys. MS causes loss of muscle tone and in turn the muscles in the legs don't contribute much to blood return sometimes, which can allow fluid to break through the blood cells and collect in the legs. Both these conditions, plus emphysema, can contribute to congestive heart failure, which is one of the most common direct causes of this problem.

The underlying cause or causes will have to be diagnosed and treated and, in the meantime, medication to help reduce the build-up of fluid can afford some relief. Several specialists will likely wind up involved in an effective effort to get your dad's organ systems working in concert again so as to avoid this sort of thing becoming chronic.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck to you and to your dad. Please follow up with us as neccessary.