my father 71

hi, my friend just went through this, if he has been put on morphine,that is one thing that causes nausea and vomiting. I don't know about the itch, a sign that my friend was getting worse was "sleep apneia", where he would quit breathing, after that he passed away in two days. I know this is very hard for your family and I will pray for you. I also have lung cancer (small cell) and is inoperable so I know a little of both sides of this issue. God bless. Mike

I'm so sorry to hear about your father. I just lost my Dad who was 56 to non-small cell. My Dad was diagnosed in Nov 2002 and we lost him on Jan. 24, 2003. Morphine causes nausea and vomiting and can also cause constipation. When cancer spreads to the liver, this can cause nausea also. My Dad had nausea and vomiting the last 5 weeks of his life. If your Dad is having trouble urinating, he may be dehydrated and his kidneys are starting to have trouble functioning. My Dad turned yellow 2 weeks before he died. The last few weeks of his life, he was very weak and unable to walk without help. He was very dehydrated and barely going to the bathroom. His doctors didn't tell him or us that he was terminal because I don't think they knew. He was diagnosed as Stage 3 but I don't think this was correct because his cancer was already in his hip at the time of diagnosis but they overlooked the hip at first. He was told on 12/3 by his oncologist that he had a good chance of beating the cancer because he was in great health otherwise. His doctors told him to do aggressive radiation and chemo. He did 5 weeks of radiation at a high dosage which further weakened him. He was scheduled to do 7 weeks but died after week 5. His last week of life was spent in the hospital, the doctors ran 7 tests on him trying to determine if his cancer had spread to his liver and had him go to radiation each day by ambulance. We know now that his body was shutting down that last week but no one told us. I really think they didn't know or they wouldn't kept running tests and making him do radiation. That last week, his body was building up fluid and his breathing was very labored. We think the fluid build up was from his liver and kidneys not working as they should because of the cancer. The doctors never did determine if the cancer had spread to his liver. They assume it did. My Dad quit breathing on 1/23 and was put on a ventilator. We believe he quit breathing because of the fluid build up. He died 10 hours later. Hospice should be able to tell you when they feel your Dad is getting near the end. My uncle died of lung cancer in 1999 and his hospice nurse told us when he had a few days left and she was right. My husband's mother died of lymphoma and the nurses told us when she was near the end and they were right also. I know what you mean about not being able to sleep. I have difficulty sleeping the whole time my Dad was sick. I went to bed thinking about him and woke up through the night worrying about him. Now that he is gone, I dream about him all the time and still wake up thinking about him. I will pray for you, your Dad, and your family. Cancer is a horrible thing to have to endure. I wish you all the best.
Donna

Hi Deb, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad, my dad has lung cancer too, he was diagnosed in december 2002, he is in chemo now, his first chemo was the worst he had an intestinal obstruction and was hospitalized for 2 weeks, but now he is stable, he is breathing much better, he choosed the treatment to have a hope and to feel a little better. We are trying to be positive and help him in this moments. Stay with your father and give him love and comfort. God bless you.
Ginelle