Hello, I am so sorry to hear about your father's struggle with stomach cancer. It is so hard to watch our loved ones go through this horrible disease. I lost my wonderful husband to stomach cancer on February 22, 2008. He was diagnosed with stage IV in February 2005. He had surgery, chemo, radiation and chemo together, then chemo. No cancer returned for two years. In February of 2007 he had mets to the liver and nodularity at the original site of cancer at the gastroesophageal junction. They put him on Taxol which he stayed on until November of 2007. The doc said she wanted to give him a break from chemo for about a month. She said he would probably be on it forever. Around Thanksgiving he started having trouble swallowing, his food felt like it was stuck, and he was losing weight. He had stomach pain and was vomiting. He had a malignant stricture that prevented the food from going into the stomach. They inserted a J tube February 13 but he passed February 22. He could not eat or drink. He did not speak those last two weeks and was not alert like your dad. He was in a semi-comatose state and could hear what I was saying but could not respond. Even though he was comatose, he was restless and kept trying to sit up. I guess this is normal when a person is dying - it's delirium (hospice said). His breathing became labored for about 13 hours and he finally gave up. It's so hard, but at least he is not suffering. Enjoy your time with your dad while he is still alert. Hope this helps.
Diane