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What Is The Prognosis Of A Person With Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Frequent Pass Outs?
Question: My Dad has AML. He is 87 and is getting transfusions weekly, along with Hydurea (sp?) . He is falling quite frequently and bleeds after.almost every fall. He now has swelling in his lymph on his lower cheek. I don't know what sub-type he has, Dr. hasn't told.my Mom and she won't ask. He can barely speak. ( slurs.his.words.and doesn't make much sense.)My Mom is his care-taker, she's 81 and in excellent health but is in deep denial about his rapid deterioration. My question is this: how.does one know when the end is near, what are the stages?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Brief Answer:
withdrawal and not eating are often signs
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I am sorry that your father is so ill. This is a hard question to answer because people die in such different ways. Occasionally someone with a severe illness will being doing fairly well then something catastrophic will happen and they will just die suddenly. In others that are failing more slowly there is frequently a withdrawal from other people, even the people in their family. It is often as if they are turning back into themselves preparing to die. The appetite also often fails. People can live for months without much food but if patients stop drinking too then they usually only last for a few weeks. I a person that is dying slowing like this they may enter into an unconscious state in the last few days and not be responsive at all. Often their breathing will become irregular and there may even be pauses for quite some time between breaths.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Regards,
Dr. Robinson
withdrawal and not eating are often signs
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I am sorry that your father is so ill. This is a hard question to answer because people die in such different ways. Occasionally someone with a severe illness will being doing fairly well then something catastrophic will happen and they will just die suddenly. In others that are failing more slowly there is frequently a withdrawal from other people, even the people in their family. It is often as if they are turning back into themselves preparing to die. The appetite also often fails. People can live for months without much food but if patients stop drinking too then they usually only last for a few weeks. I a person that is dying slowing like this they may enter into an unconscious state in the last few days and not be responsive at all. Often their breathing will become irregular and there may even be pauses for quite some time between breaths.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Regards,
Dr. Robinson
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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