Hi,
My father suddenly passed away on 17/2/2013. Its been a month and a half now and I still am unable to understand how exactly he passed. Here are the salient points:

1. He was diagnosed with T2-N0 oral cancer on his tongue immediately after his 70th birthday on 5th Jan 2013. He was a heavy smoker and had been smoking for fifty years.

2. He was advised "Hemiglossectomy and Partial Neck Dissection". The other option of radiation therapy was not recommended and chemo-therapy was strongly not recommended.

3. He got operated upon the 8/2/2013. The surgery lasted three hours and thereafter he was kept in the ICU for one day. Due to all parameters being normal, he was moved to the ward the next day with the doctors looking quite good and happy about his condition. He was given food through a feeding tube and he appeared to be in good spirits and eager to get discharged. He was advised that he would be kept in the hospital for five days and would be discharged on the 13th of Feb.

4. On the 12th, while sleeping, he somehow pulled his feeding tube out. The doctor came in and re-inserted a new feeding tube. He was scared during the procedure but he did not complain of any great pain. (He was a stubborn guy anyway and would never admit to pain to his youngest son)

5. Due to this we elected to stay in hospital one more day and got discharged on the 14th.

6. On the 17th, at home and after meeting the family, he woke up at 4AM, vomited a pint or two of blood, started heaving and passed out. The blood came out in great quantity, just like one throws up a big dinner and was reddish-black in colour. We rushed him to emergency but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

This procedure was done in New Delhi, India. The doctor who oversaw the treatment is quite famous and has taught oral cancer treatment in India's premier medical school for thirty years, so I think he was in good hands but....

I have been unable to figure out for myself exactly how he died when the doctors were so happy with the outcome of the procedure.

Could re-inserting the ryles' tube torn up an artery which ruptured a few days later?

Could the doctors have made a mistake in the procedure that led to him dying?

Was it something that this surgery started or was it something else entirely? My mother now remembers that he showed symptoms consistent with a prostate condition as well... could there be another entirely independent cancer in his body which the doctors did not discover and which eventually took his life?

I spoke to one of the doctors who operated on him and he expressed surprise at his demise. According to him, nothing was done which could have led to this. I did not press him too much as it might have come across as me accusing him of negligence, while all I want is some sort of closure.

Any pointers from the people here would help me a lot.

Cheers,
K