My Dad is 87 which I appreciate is a good age but about four weeks ago he completely went off his legs. As he had suffered polio at the age of 14 we thought it could be post polio syndrome. His legs had been getting weaker and weaker with time and he started to suffer with agonising pain in his neck and head. He was finally admitted to hospital for an mri scan approximately 3 weeks ago and was told that he had bone cancer secondary to prostate cancer and that it was terminal. Once discharged from hospital we have had carers coming in to see him 3 times a day together with visits from a District Nurse and also a local Hospice. He is no longer in pain and has all the signs that his life is coming to an end "within hours or days rather than weeks". We just cannot cope with how quickly he has deteriorated and are worrying that the meds he has been put on at home have left him unable to stay awake, he has a Transdermal buprenorphine patch as his main source of painkiller. He is in no pain whatsoever which we are grateful for but can the opiods make death occur quicker?
