metatisized brain cancer questions

cheric

Hi all: My best friend (54) started with a lump on her neck. Yup, Cancer.
Then went to the base of her tongue. (2years ago) A long course of Chemo. Then a spot on her lung. Mar. 2006 it went to her brain. Radiation and was told that there was no other treatment available. She is coping with all of this better than I am Smile

On Christmas Eve (6 days ago) we received a call from her that she thought she was having a heart attack. The symptons subsided before the paramedics arrived and happened again when they were there.
She lost the ability to grip with her hand and her eyesight got very
strange. She also felt chest pain. During her 48 hr. stay at the hospital she was very "foggy minded" and her balance was off. She was sent home without a reason for what happended. Tests are scheduled in the near future.

My husband and are are her only "family" and will see her through till the end and are "glad" to do this for her.
In the last 3 weeks or so we have noticed a dramatic change. She is having a lot of difficulty remembering words for everyday things and often can't come up with a simple word. Her balance is getting worse. She has constant muscular pain. She still has an appetite although she keeps losing weight and can't lose much more.

She wants us to have her power of attorney and I guess what I want to know is...do we need to rush with this???

We are aware that this is terminal and there is no hope (barring a miracle and we haven't given up hope yet).

Does anyone have any similar experience to share???
We know that you can't give us an exact timeline....but we really need to know if we're dealing with a couple weeks or months. The answer will help us to decide what to do in her best interests. She's (alone) in her home now. She has a son who could move in with her but I wouldn't want to ask him to uproot his whole life if it's only for a month or two. We also may be able to move her in with us as she gets worse but because we both work, we'd need a nurse here. So many unanswered questions.
Please give us any info any of you can provide. I have a horrible feeling we don't have much time to get some answers.
Thanks in advance, Cheric

roses4evver · Regular Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 30

Dear Cheric,

I'm very sorry you are going through this & even worse for your best friend. This all must be agonizing for you all. I'm sorry that I can't give you a time line on how long your friend has. Each & every person moves towards the "passing" phase differently. My suggestion is you do get the power of attorney now just to be ready if the worst happens more quickly then you think. I suggest this merely on my own personal experience.

I lost my dear wonderful husband to pancreatic and liver cancer on Dec 31, 2006. So it has been a very short time ago. I was scared, so scared because my husband was told for about a month and after seeing 3 Dr's that he was ok and nothing serious was wrong with him. This was despite his agonizing abdo & back pain, plus great abdo distention and a great weight loss of over 40 lbs in 4 wks. Finally after 2 scopes & another CT the worst possible news was told. His last day worked was 12/15/06 & was admitted in the hospital for further testing on 12/18/06. He emmediately seemed to grow worse the next 2 days. The Dr's gave him 3 mo to live at that point. My gut feeling told me to get power of attorney NOW. My husband was going down hill faster every day. Almost 3 days later he was in hospice at home. One day before being sent home he had his last scope done & the surgeon was still telling me he was not ready for hospice YET.....how wrong they were. My husband passed away exactly 16 days after confirmed diagnosis on 12/15/06. I was so glad that I listlened to my inner voice & was prepared.

My prayers are with you all

	Cancer Forums Forum Index -> The Lounge	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

A website for discussions about any type of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, prostate cancer, laryngeal cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and others