This is one of the worst cancers. I lost my mom to GB cancer exactly one year ago. The cancer was discovered during the removal of her gall bladder, her remaining six months were filled with abdominal pain. Her therapy was Gemcitabine/Capcitabine combination. The day the jaundice happened, is actually the day my mom died, so I would advise you to get hospice as soon as the doctor starts to recommend ending therapy, don’t wait for jaundice to happen. Unfortunately I didn’t have hospice assistance and it is rough to watch your loved one die from this disease. Please get any assistance you can before it is too late!
My mom stayed in bed most of the time. She would throw up black fluid, which I later learned was blood that is sitting in the stomach. I had to keep a pail in bed with her. She started on dilaudid medication for the pain and in the end she was on oxycoten for the pain, and even with taking both medications together she had terrible pain. Just like everyone else, I tried FlorEss tea, which helped a little, and I had her drink Resurgex drinks to keep energy since she couldn’t eat much without being in pain. After four months she was really weak and needed assistance with most movements. The fifth month is when the hallucinations started to occur and it scared my mom, she would wake me up in the middle of the night so that she wouldn’t talk with dead people. Also with the pain medication sometimes your loved one my say something hurtful to you, but they don’t mean it and will not remember saying hurtful things to you.
In the end my mom died from having three heart attacks in one day. I had to make the decision to sign a dnr (do not resuscitate) form to end my mom’s suffering. A dnr form is something you and your family should discuss now, so that if its needed in the future you don’t have to carry the burden of making that decision with you for the rest of your life. I still question if I should’ve signed that form even with my mom suffering from the cancer.
Make your mom as comfortable as possible and spend as much time with her as you can. If she is still able to move around take her to do something that she really likes, it will make both of you happy. Doctor’s visit made us sad, so I took my mom out after a doctor’s visit and it did a lot of good for her attitude. My mom lived for 6 months after her diagnosis. It’s been a year and not a day goes by that I don’t miss my mom. It gets better, but it will never be the same – you only have one mother.
Hope this information helps. Your mom and family are in my prayers.