Please help, I'm so confused about what stage my 86 year old, 30 kilo, cancer suffering mother is in?
My mother has cancer of the Urethra. She now has a secondary cancer in her abdomen too, visible to the naked eye. She was rushed to hospice with a fever, vomiting etc 3 days ago. She has now almost stopped speaking completely although seems “ compos mentis’, she only eats Ensure, 20ml at a time, perhaps twice a day, with a syringe. She battles to swallow, and gets thirsty, although I think it’s actually a dry mouth that she has. The hospice staff say they can’t say which phase she’s in as she doesn’t seem distressed nor in too much pain, on the other hand she literally sleeps all the time. When I played her favorite music to her today, her face didn’t respond at all... can anyone give us any idea where we are at and what we can expect, although I know no one can predict anything, it is just so alarming and sad and distressing not to know anything at all. Thank you
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I would like to say that my mother has now passed away.
It has been a terrible past week.
Once back home,she seemed to loose consciousness and never spoke or made a sound again. She passed away 3 days later
We will miss her deeply.
We will continue to play music and pray.
She is not a religious woman, but perhaps someone coming to bless her is still a good idea.
Thank you both.
When you say " comps mentis" I'm unsure what you mean, if she's not responding.
Difficulty swallowing is usually an issue of brain function,rather than of dry mouth.
As my mother was dying, we played all her favorite music. We got no reaction from her, but in retrospect, it helped us feel like we were doing something.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's excruciating.