How painful does it get at the end?
Posted by: Ann
Posted : Thu, 11 Mar 2010
I know that I asked a few questions related to my cousin in the last few months. But I cannot stop thinking about it, and I am not able to get these answers from her doctor. So here it goes.
Does someone who is dying of cancer suffers from a lot of pain at the end? My cousin is home now, the doctors released her because there is nothing that they can do now, and at the end she refused to take any more treatments or medication, so she has nothing, no morfium or anything similar medication. She is coughing a lot because cancer has spread to her lungs (besides other parts of body. It all started in her uterine). She got fever last night. She hasn't eaten anything in 2 weeks. She doesn't want to eat much because she is still in pain from the chemotherapies that she had until she refused to have any more, at least that's what she tells me on the phone.
So my question is to anyone who has any idea. How painful will it get? How much more will she suffer?
Is there any chances that she would die in her sleep peacefully? And how long? How long does it usually take for a body to shut down? Please give me at least some idea.
I live in the US, she lives in Europe. I won't see her, all I can do is to call her. And I do, every few days for 5-10 minutes but she cannot talk longer. She starts losing her breath. She is staying in bed all the time because she is so weak.
Yes, if she had morphine, she might no suffer but as I mentioned she doesn't!
Any doctors, please, tell me exactly what it is going to happen to her body and how painful it can get. I just need to me mentally prepared because I will be calling her until she doesn't answer anymore.
caryh> you could have made some argument but I lost interest at the point where you called my doctor an a**hole. You cannot call someone you don't know names or make any kind of judgement. Is he or she an a**hole because he/she is a doctor? How can you judge someone by their profession? That's just immature. And everything that you said lost credibility in my eyes.
I meant my cousin's doctor.
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Re: How painful does it get at the end?
I have watched a few people who died of cancer. In most cases, they had so much pain medication they were nearly comatose, and just stopped breathing.
But you asked what would happen without pain medication. That is impossible to say, but if your cousin was in pain I think you would know it. And if she doesn't have significant pain, it probably won't get worse.
I lost my best friend to pancreatic cancer a few years ago, and she was on all kinds of pain medication. She was at home, and toward the end she was not able to swallow. She could not take her pain pills, and we kept asking her if she was in pain, because we could call the hospice nurse to get her injectable medication. She could not talk, but would always shake her head when we asked about pain. Because of her inability to swallow, she became rapidly dehydrated, and died rather quietly. No indication of pain at the end even though she had no drugs.
If your cousin has recently developed a fever, she may have an infection such as pneumonia. She will be unable to fight the infection due to the effects of her chemotherapy and general weakness. With such an infection and no treatment, I would give her no more than a week, and if she isn't currently in pain, it probably won't get worse. She could very well die in her sleep. If she isn't drinking any fluids, like my friend, she may die of dehydration. If she is as short of breath as you say, she may die of exhaustion from trying to breathe.
I feel really bad for you and wish i could be more specific. Obviously, your cousin feels she has suffered enough. I don't think anyone would cause themselves to suffer more in a situation like that, so something tells me that pain is not her problem.
| Posted by: Susanne Posted : Thu, 11 Mar 2010 | Reply Now | |
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