My Mum is 75 and currently in a hospice with brain cancer (a stage 3 glioma tumour). She was diagnosed in June after having seizures and after spending 6 weeks in a neuro hospital, she was transferred to a hospice. Cancer treatment / surgery was never seen as a viable option due to the location of the tumour and the prognosis. The neuro hospital worked really hard to manage her seizures with the correct level of anti-seizure medication and they also put her on steroids to reduce the swelling on the brain. This seemed to be working really well and although there has been a steady deterioration since her diagnosis, she has been able to get out of bed and have normal conversations etc. Then without warning she deteriorated very quickly on Sunday morning. Since then she has mostly been unconscious in bed, only raising her eyebrows to voices and she was put on a 'care of a dying patient' care plan which meant she was only given water on a sponge and was put on morphine and Midazolam as well as her anti seizure medication and steroids through syringe drivers as her swallow reflex has gone. She has been very unsettled all week, struggling to sleep properly, no speech at all but constantly trying to talk, constant whimpers and agitation. We were told by the doctor and hospice staff to prepare for the end and she has had her last rites. She has been without food or drink for 5 days and hasn't exmptied her bowels and then suddently this morning she started sitting up in bed, she opened her eyes and her speech started to come back, albeit confused. Then within a couple of hours, she was able to talk in short sentences and managed to drink water from a beaker and announced she was 'starving' and managed to eat 2 bowls of soup. This has come as a complete shock to the doctor, hospice staff and of course to us as her family too. She was still extremely poorly yesterday and this rally seems to have come from nowhere and has been very unexpected.
I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with a loved one with a glioma tumour?
