What end of life care involves

Dear Raretez,

I hear you, and I understand your decisions. All for the same reasons. I wish I had been able to keep this to myself. But it wouldn't have been possible when you think about it realistically. There does come a time when weighing up treatment and what the quality of life for all has to be considered. I wonder about the toll it's taking on loved ones and ask the same question everyday. Is this helping me, or anyone around me? I'm glad I took the treatment, for me, I had no choice, I wouldn't be writing this now had I not, but it's close to that stage too. Sending you huge hugs. xxx

I hear what you are saying and feel empathy. You really seem to have gone through the mill. My diagnosis was only in October 2019. However, Merkel Cell Carcinoma is so rare and deadly I was given up as a lost cause from the outset. I have survived the original 5 month prognosis only by doing my own research and being pro-active on insisting on the only real option open to me.....Immunotherapy. I so very much admire your courage. I could not go through a regime of constant hospital appointments. I am happy that I have extra time to spend with my little dog, hoping to see the garden in Springtime. Then I shall see what is over the rainbow......

Likewise, I would not be here to write to you without having agreed to 'try something'. I think I owed it to them to 'give it a go'. I am lucky to be well supported by the local Hospice. They have the good grace to talk of the 'inevitable' as opposed to the 'unforeseen', which I find hugely comforting in a strange way. I shall therefore allow them to drag me in for all the Aromatherapy, Acupuncture and Massage I can stand