The affection families express for their dying loved ones can take many forms. Recently, I saw a spry 91-year-old Spanish-speaking gentleman with lung cancer which had consumed the better part of his right lung. He had a large family with many doting daughters. In his neighborhood, he was popular and well respected. He, according his family, had “many girlfriends.” His lung cancer was no doubt a result of a …
“It’s those pain medicines you are giving her. She’s very sensitive to them. I think that’s why she’s confused — she is doped up.”
Two months after receiving her diagnosis Mrs. M signed up for hospice. At our first visit, she was suffering and visibly uncomfortable. Her skin appeared excoriated from weeks of scratching. She was confused, restless, and racked by pain.
Mrs. M had metastatic liver cancer resulting from underlying cirrhosis. …
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