What does death by internal (and some mild external) bleeding look like?

So sorry. Have you called Hospice in? They will keep him comfortable and may answer your questions.

My father didn’t have leukemia. He had mesothelioma that had destroyed his lungs and airway. He had severe internal bleeding at the end. He coughed up blood. If he ate and got choked or threw up there was always blood. Bleeding from the rectum. At the very end just sneezing would cause a bloody nose. His stomach became distended from blood collecting in his stomach. His lungs were full as well and he said he felt suffocated. He became weaker and weaker from loss of blood and his hemoglobin levels were too low.

I did some googling about end of life with AML (you might want to use that search term)

"Signs that death is imminent are the same as with any other disease. Loss of appetite is the first signal that the AML patient may be dying. A person who is dying will sleep more often than not. AML patients in their final stages experience labored breathing. Each breath may be quite audible. At this point, bone pain will be severe. Doctors may suggest sedating the patient with narcotics such as morphine to ease the pain. Bleeding through the gums or around the gum-line can suggest the patient is at risk for internal bleeding. Internal bleeding in late-stage AML patients cannot be treated without causing a new bleed. Symptoms of a lethal, internal bleeding include shivers, confusion, loss of consciousness and death."
(www.healthfully.com/final-stages-aml-elderly-5525713.html)

I'm sorry you are going through this. Your care team includes hospice I hope?

Most likely you won’t see signs of internal bleed until the person has a bowel movement which may have old blood in it, or the person vomits or spits up blood, Abdominal distention is another symptom. And abdominal pain as well.

Great article cwillie. That pretty well spells it out.

I am hoping you got hospice called in? They will assist you with providing care for your father and teach you things/symptoms to look for in impending death (if that’s what you want to know).

Call hospice! If he's done, you both need their support to get through this.

I agree very strongly with Surprise - call in hospice.

My aunt's CML progressed to AML at the end of her life. She was a retired doctor, and knowing what was ahead she was still determined to avoid interventions to the extent that she withheld all information from all family members. I am sorry to tell you that the disease went a bit Technicolor on her: her DIL was forced to call for an emergency ambulance and my aunt was admitted to hospital for the last few days of her life.

I'm sorry - I realise I'm giving you the runaround, too. To be plain, we're talking about vomiting massive amounts of blood (haematemesis), though the source of the blood can be the lungs or the gut. It can be terrifying. I completely agree with you that such things are much less terrifying if you understand what is happening.

Pain and delirium are also among the commonest symptoms. Bleeding can be within the brain, and effective pain relief is essential. Important note: although these events are common, they affect less than half of all AML patients. They are therefore NOT inevitable.

The good news for my aunt, for example, was that the hospital was able to deal sympathetically with the symptoms so that her last day was spent with her son at her bedside and she then slipped away peacefully.

Perhaps the moral of her story is that if you get the professionals in now you will improve your father's chances of staying at home without overwhelming pain, fear or distress. Nothing was done for my aunt in hospital that could not have been done at home, if only she had given her GP, family and support services a chance to prepare.

CM, even with the aide of hospice and knowing what to expect that scenario sounds too terrifying to handle at home, at least it would be for me.
Sunfleur, perhaps a hospice facility is something you all might want to discuss?