I lost my father to cancer on 3rd June, he had a glioblastoma multiforme stage IV, not a lot is posted about the final stages of this Cancer. And I know people ask this but not a lot written. My Dad was diagnosed with GBM on the 7th April 2016, his neurosurgeon advised he had 3-6months to live, oral chemo was offered but only gave hope that my dad would survive a month or few weeks longer. If you have a loved one with this cancer, I want you to know, it's not easy to watch. But for the most part, my dad had no idea what was going on, he recognised family, but would get very confused and agitated as to why he was in hospital. The last week of his life, he lost the ability to swallow food, move his body, talk and lost sight in his right eye. As horrible as it sounds and awful to watch, my Dad was not in pain. The silver lining of GBM, is that it very rarely causes pain, he began to sleep a lot. When he could no longer swallow his medication, my family decided to put him on a syringe driver of madazalam and morphine, he was in a comatose state, but at peace. He could hear people talking to him and would faintly smile at funny stories from the past. I'm not going to lie, it's horrible to witness, but the only silver lining that kept me going was, my dad had no idea what was going on, was mainly 'high' on drugs and most importantly, he was not in pain. I took just about all my being to get through his illness and death, the grief does get easier, I promise, but allow yourself to cry and grieve.
fast forward 8 weeks, my mum has been diagnosed with secondary bowel cancer. It's spread to her liver, we're currently awaiting the MDT meeting outcome. We have been told that surgery and chemo may keep her cancer 'under control' but may not necessarily cure it completely. The bowel cancer has most definitely been confirmed, however, on the ct scan, showed spots in her liver, we are waiting on a liver MRI. It feels a lot like deja vu, I'm finding it almost impossible to remain positive, I have faith that treatment will help, but I'm mentally not ready to do this again.
I don't feel like I can help myself get through this, but hopefully my post may help others.
for anyone who is living with cancer or has a loved one with Cancer, stay strong