I called an ambulance for my uncle who has terminal pancreatic cancer on Tuesday night as he was literally out of his mind with pain. They came and gave him some gas and air, but left soon afterwards saying "No point taking you to hospital. It's rammed".
An hour later, when everyone had gone to bed, I put him in my car and drove him to the hospital. He was sick like nothing I've seen before, but worse was to come.
In A&E they put an NG tube in. I have NEVER been so traumatised in my entire life. What with his distress, the Vesuvius amount of black vomit, the screaming and gurgling I fainted - not a drop down faint, I manaded to get myself to the ground.
Anyway, once this procedure was done he had some morphine - thank god for the humble poppy - and then a CT scan which showed a bowel obstruction and pulmonary embolism. There is no surgery. They can 'only make him comfortable'.
