It is the 11th November, Remembrance Sunday. My friend continues the downward spiral. What they don't tell you, (by they I mean the medical profession) is exactly what lies ahead for the dying Pancreatic Cancer patient.
I suppose I understand why they don't tell the patient, but I do think they should explain to the carer or family what to expect. I have managed to confirm some stuff on the Internet, but the reality of living through this, is something quite different.
So what should you expect as the carer or family? I will be very explicit.
- Your loved one will stop eating, they will still drink, but very small amounts, but this will eventually stop.
- They will have a struggle to pass urine, until they will only manage 1 wee a day with up to (so far in my case) 32 hours between wees.
- Their speech will become often slurred and unintelligible.
- They present similar symptoms to Alzheimer's Disease, they become confused and in my case keep calling out for their 'Mummy', who passed away some 40 years ago.
- They become agitated and frustrated because they can not make themselves understood.
- They will become incontinent, in my case the bowels and not realise that they want to go to the toilet.
- The eyes become distant and manifest an appearance of fear.
- They can no longer support themselves at all as they are so weak, because they are skin and bone and no longer have the muscles to support them.
- They become almost a stranger to you as they are no longer the person they were.
Coping with this stage of the illness for me is by far the worst part. I wish someone had warned me. I do not know how anyone can still survive when every bone in their body is exposed through a thin layer of skin and their internal organs are obviously not functioning properly, if at all.
Please may this all end soon for my friends sake. If she could really understand what is happening to her, she would be appalled.
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