My mother has had CRC for the past three years. None of the chemo has worked and Radiation only had a slight effect. She became very ill and had surgery three weeks ago. We were told at the time that there was a 60% mortality rate during surgery and a 97% chance of morbidity post surgery. Despite all the odds she came through the surgery and, despite initial setbacks, seemed to begin to recover.
She was sent to Hospice for two weeks of step-down nursing and was due to be discharged to home from there. However, she has now developed sepsis. We have been told there is a big impact to her kidneys and that her haemoglobin is low. She is seriously ill, but she’s chatting away, although very confused. Does anyone know what we are looking at here? Really would like to hear from anyone with any idea of outcome. Thanks for reading.
Hello
My name is Steph and I’m part of the team who look after the Online Community here at Macmillan.
I am so sorry to hear that your mum has cancer, has developed sepsis and that you fear you’re approaching the end. It’s positive that you’ve found the Macmillan Online Community as we regularly see the benefit of members being able to talk to others in similar circumstances. We’re sorry that you’ve needed to come to us in these circumstances and we’ll do our best to support you.
Your question about what is happening to your mum and potential outcomes might be a little bit tricky for anyone here to answer. You could speak to the healthcare staff at the hospice and ask for their guidance.
Marie Curie offer this information about stages of dying. They say “Some people ask what signs people will have in the last 40 days, month or final weeks before dying. We cannot say exactly what symptoms people will have at different times. Everyone is different and not everyone will have these symptoms.”
It might be difficult for anyone to tell you what to expect but we are all here to support you as best we can. By replying here, I have bumped your post so that more members might see it and offer some support.
Macmillan offer this information for anyone supporting a loved one with cancer which might be helpful to have a read through.
If you’d like to talk anything through with an expert at Macmillan, I’d encourage you to contact the Support Line. Our Support Line teams are available 7 days a week, 8am-8pm on freephone 0808 808 00 00, email or live webchat.
Please do let us know if you have any questions or if you’d like some help using the Community or further support with anything else.
