I have been scanning this web site and others since May 2007 when my father was diagnosed with stage 5 inoperable stomach cancer. I knew he did not have long to live but no-one seemed to be able to tell me what it would be like for him when he eventually would die. My father died on 12th of December. I feel at the moment I am suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. He got his final report on the 5th of November that the chemo had not worked and it had actually spread quiet aggressively into his liver. I feel that a man of 71 years at this stage in his cancer should never have been offered chemo. Hindsight is a great thing . We were grasping at straws that maybe just maybe he would be the statistic that would beat the odds stacked so highly against him. Once I realised things were not going well for him, I started to search for what it would be like for him when he died. I could not find the info. So I am going to share with anyone what happened to his body. He suffered greatly initially from what we thought was rhuematic pains in his legs - this was nerve damage from the chemo.. He stopped sleeping and would only nap for a few minutes at a time - he was exhausted night and day this was stress and anxiety. His appetite stopped and he had dramatic weight loss however he seemed to get heavier this was because his liver had stopped processing proteins so water was being leeched from his cells. His feet began to swell which quickly extended up his legs to just below his knees. He took on a bloated appearence . He became incredibly heavy to lift and move around. His face, neck,shoulders and eyes became yellow due to the jaundice . He could not sit for more than a few minutes without wanting to move around . His arms were constantly moving around and he constantly needed to know what time it was- this apparently is what is called terminal restlessness. Dad died eventually heavily sedated and peacefully- I was glad it was over and he was certainly ready to go as he told me many times. I am sorry if i have distressed anyone by writing this but I would have wanted to read this and I can only pray they find a cure for this horrible illness. |