End game. What to expect?

I love your attitude! I’m the same way. They took me off chemo because I wasn’t recovering well Between treatments. It’s been three weeks since my last came on. I feel great lots of energy. My palliative doctor gives me Ritalin for energy and Marinol for appetite so I’m eating good and I have lots of energy to clean and sew. I Just started on a pill that inhibits the cancer cells from spreading so I’m anxious to find out if it’s working.

Wow! I'm with wjk and marciak9...
It's a difficult decision but it puts you (and me too as I am doing the same thing at 84 years old) in control. We're the only ones who know how it feels to be so sick from medication that living longer does not matter. I'm doing radiation for metastasis (lowered cancer antigen from 104 to 52) after Whipple 14 months ago which was a piece of cake (the radiation, not the Whipple) and being grateful for each day--which I believe greatly improves my chance of survival. I keep busy with a veggie garden, walking in the park across the street, knitting...and yes, resting a lot. Not sure if that's just because I'm 84.

i'm curious as well...not knowing what to expect with my friend... how will i know when he's approaching the end? For those who haven't read my story, he has pancreatic cancer and recently decided he's done with treatments and has opted for nothing but comfort care here on out...my biggest thing is not knowing what to expect...how will i know when he's reached the end stages to move to hospital care?

wjk, as far as pan can I have no direct information, but I have been part of hospice care for my grandfather and father. Both of those were heart related. At first it was sort of like a party or celebration. My father was permitted and took a lot of alcoholic beverages. I would expect tobacco use would also be permitted. You can eat what ever you want. Diabetics can have all the sugar they want. All meds are stopped except meds that make you happy and not caring about your short time to live. Then at the end it was setting and watching as death claimed them.

The thing is we are all going to die. No one will ever live forever. Death will come for each of us and in a lot of different ways. It will always come eventually though.

Good luck to all with your fight against cancer.

I don't mean to get gruesome, but I am in the same (sinking) boat. What does "Then at the end it was setting and watching as death claimed them." Look like?

rfherald, it depends on what is failing. With my father it was his heart and fluid built up. To me it seemed he drowned in the excess fluid in his lungs. The meds mostly made him not care. We still were moving him up and down and around as he was trying to get somewhere so he could breath. With my grandfather it was his kidney's. He just set in a recliner for a few days and just dried up. His meds were in liquid form as he was unresponsive, and we would use a dropper to put the meds in his mouth. There was no way to tell at least that I could see that it made any difference. I was off shift and at home when my grandfather died. My grandmother did die of cancer. Started out as breast cancer and later moved to her throat. She was in the hospital and I was with my grandfather watching her. She got out of bed and my grandfather was trying to get her back in bed. She told him they needed to get out of the hospital as they had really stepped in it this time. A nurse helped get her back in bed and my grandfather and the nurse were working on hooking the o2 back up and she passed. I told the nurse and my grandfather that she was gone. None of these were recent. A lot has most likely changed. You might reach out to your local hospice for information.

My home state just has hospice care but some states have passed death with dignity laws. I have friends in Colorado where they have this. There are other states that have this and might be worth checking to see if it is an option or not.

Happyjack, thank you for all the disease-specific detail. It was more than I expected. With it I can imagine the changes to suit my case.

I live in Colorado and am familiar with EOL options. It's still enlightening to hear the experience of others. Thank you.

what pill did you start?

The pill is sotorasib or lumakras. It is for pancreas cancer with gene mutations KRAS and G12C. It was developed for lung cancer patients, but found that it helped pancreas cancer with those gene mutations. It changes the signal in the cancer cell. It doesn’t actually kill it. I’m told it’s an inhibitor. I’ll get a PET scan in November to see if it’s working, but it’s nice that my blood work is coming back better!

I’m also very interested in what pill you are taking?? Appreciate if you could give the name.
Thank you so much