How do we decide if mom should get treatment for her cancer?
18 years after colon cancer, this could also be a new cancer. In any case, it is important to talk to an oncologist to get full information. The decision of whether to treat a cancer is a case of balancing the benefits and burdens. It is reasonable at age 87, especially if your mother is confused, to choose not to pursue treatment that has lots of side effects and instead decide to enjoy better quality of life now. This is especially true if the only benefit of treatment is a very small increase in life expectancy. Some people in their 80's would still choose to be aggressive if there were a good reason for it. There is, however, no requirement for treatment and it would be perfectly reasonable to select a better quality of life now. It is almost sure that at some point the symptoms will get worse, but the benefits now can easily be worth it.
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