My dad, 83 was diagnosed with sarcomatoid mesothelioma in early Sept. He has had one cycle of chemo but picked up pneumonia as a result and ended up in hospital twice to recover from that plus acute dehydration which has really knocked him around. He has been home now for 3 weeks and is more stable but has been spending the majority of his time in bed. The last few days he has been up a bit more and eating and drinking a little but prob only up for 2-3 hours a day.
Our local hospice nurse who has been amazing and his Oncology nurse (also amazing) think that we are pretty much in palliative/end of life care but that if he can get stronger and be to the point of spending 1/2 the day up and eating and drinking more normally then the option of Immunotherapy is there albeit a very slim chance. This though is what Dad is clinging to and believes in his mind that he will get there.
Through all of this it is clear that Dad doesn't realise that he may not get to that stage and if so, we could be talking weeks. My question to the forum is when or if do we have the conversation with Dad that he is at end of life and it's about making him comfortable and enjoying what time he does have? We will consult with our Oncology & hospice nurse and between us all, decide but id be keen to hear others experiences.
Hi Nebbsy
That's great to read that your dad is home now and has been more stable, managing to get up for a few hours each day, and eating and drinking.
It must be such a relief that you have amazing support from the hospice and oncology nurses as this can make a great deal of difference.
You have said that your dad is in denial about his prognosis but is it just his way of coping? I hope you don't mind me suggesting that you join the supporting someone with incurable cancer group where you could ask those in a similar situation to yourself what they have done.
If this is something that you'd like to do just click on the link I've created and you can then join and post in the same way as you did here.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
