Cancer and End of Life Questions

1. What do I do after my doctor telling me I have six months to live?

   No doctor has a crystal ball to know exactly how long you have to live but your disease is serious. If your oncologist is not offering you any other chemotherapy (there may be none except those that are not likely to help or are likely to make you feel awful), then hospice is a reasonable option...
   1 Expert Answer

2. How do you truthfully answer the question, "Am I dying?"

   It is always hard to answer difficult questions, especially ones like your grandmother is asking. You have not given too much information regarding whether she is confused, has dementia, or has other disease processes going on. But, the fact that you are giving her care and “being there” for her ier is very admirable...
   1 Expert Answer, 4 Community Answers

3. Why are my husband's dementia and hallucinations at night?

   While many different kinds of cancer spread to other parts of the body, lung cancer is one that spreads to the brain. When this happens, the person may experience headaches, even seizures, and other neurological symptoms such as speech problems, confusion, and quite frequently, hallucinations...
   1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

4. Will living with a dying grandfather undermine a child's faith?

   Caring for a terminally ill family member brings stress to families, and children look to us as parents to see the nature of compassion and faith. They absorb what they see reflected in us as parents, but they also have unique needs.
   1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

5. Is it possible to have an energy surge in the final days of cancer?

   Yes, many people have a temporary improvement near the end of life. This can take the form of an energy surge, or improved clarity of thought, but it often helps the person accomplish things near the end of his or her life. It may simply mean that the person's mind is more clear allowing greater ability to have end of life conversations...
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6. Does entering Hospice care mean death is near?

   Your grandfather’s doctor has based his diagnosis on various tests and signs and symptoms that have presented during his course of treatment. From your description, there are many things going on that involve different systems of the body, such as the lungs, kidneys, liver and col...
   1 Expert Answer, 2 Community Answers

7. Should I continue my cancer treatment?

   Given the information that I have, I would say that for long term cancer treatment, the main reason for continuing, without cure as an option, is exactly prolongation of life. That is up to you if your oncologist is offering further treatment...
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8. How can I keep my faith to make it through another day?

   You’re facing one of life’s most difficult challenges, and your feelings of ambivalence, doubt, and fear are common. May I express my support and prayers for you at this painful time in your life.
   1 Expert Answer, 16 Community Answers

9. How can I help my mother deal with the lumps in her breasts?

   It may be that all you really can do is nothing. You could respectfully express your unhappiness and concern about your mom's decision, but it may not change her mind. It is indeed unfortunate that without an MRI, you don't know if her breast lumps are benign or malignant, and if they are malignant, how aggressive the cancer is, or not...
   1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

10. Is indefinite chemo considered pallative care?

    Palliative chemotherapy is a treatment considered when the intent of treatment is no longer curative but rather to provide symptom relief from the cancer.
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11. Is dying from cancer treatment worse than dying from cancer?

    As a general question, this is very hard to answer since different cancers behave differently. Cancer treatment can prolong life in many cases for some period of time but the question is at what cost to quality of life? For some people, the cost is well worth the benefits...
    1 Expert Answer, 3 Community Answers

12. How long can you live with metastatic lung cancer?

    15 % chance 3 months 20% chance 18 months 25 % chance upto 5 yrs 37 % chance upto 12 yrs
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13. How do we decide when to stop chemotherapy that's not working?

    This is a very hard conversation to have, when the doctor acknowledges that cancer treatment is no longer achieving results. You and your father have to weigh the negative aspects of treatment, such as uncomfortable and painful side effects, against your father's need to keep seeking a cure...
    1 Expert Answer, 13 Community Answers

14. How can we keep Mom comfortable and relieve bone pain?

    You ask a lot of good questions. Let's take them one at a time.
    1 Expert Answer, 3 Community Answers

15. How do you overcome denial of death?

    I confirmed with a surgical oncologist about an infected central line, and you are right. This is a "pre-terminal" event and she will not recover from this without removal of the line. But commonly, cancer patients will see a short improvement in health that preceeds death; one chaplain I know says it...
    1 Expert Answer, 11 Community Answers

16. How do you know if you are dying from renal cancer?

    Some forms of renal cancer are very difficult to treat. The cancer can spread to other organs and the tumor can cause the organs to stop working. If renal cancer spreads to the brain then the patient may lapse into a comma or die very quickly. Even if the tumor does not spread, the presence of renal cancer on the kidney can cause the kidney to shut down...
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17. What happens in the end stage of bladder cancer?

    In the end stage of bladder cancer all methods of treatment have failed. This may have been oral medication, chemotheraphy or radiation therapy. The patient will be weak and most often unable to digest food. Their speech may become slurred and they may lose control of their bladder and they may lose their hair...
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18. What happens in the end stage of thyroid cancer?

    What happens in the end stage of thyroid cancer really depends on where the cancer has spread. In other words, you will have different symptoms, depending on where the cancer has settled. I believe lung, liver and bone are common places for thyroid cancer to spread...
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19. How do you know if you are dying from bone cancer?

    Im with fobio and sergeo on this one.
    5 Community Answers

20. What happens in the end stage of bone cancer?

    In the end stages of bone cancer the person will experience much more pain that they would normally. Every time the person moves there would be a shooting pain through their bodies that would cause a lot of grief. There is also a weakening of the bones that would break and fracture easier if the person were to fall...
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