My Dad has lived with us for 14 years, ever since my Mum passed away aged 69.  He has had stage 4 rectal cancer for 18 months now and has had 2 bouts of radiation therapy.  He is on anti-depressants but he just will not get up out of bed each day and just lays there in and out of sleep, he hardly eats and we provide supplements provided by the GP.  I work full time in the NHS and my wife is a carer to 2 young adults with learning difficulties.  We also have 11 grandchildren that visit regularly. 

He is fouling his pads in bed and has a catheter which is looked at every Tuesday by district nurse.  We now feel it is impossible to care for him safely as he is getting very weak and when he does get out of bed he is susceptible to falls.  We just do not know what to do next.  I took him to GP yesterday who just stated what we had been telling him, to get out of bed each morning, eat regularly and be mobile or his muscles will deteriorate.  The next day (today) same old story, it's midday now and he still hasn't got up.  He is just waiting to die, that's what he tells everyone and he wants to die even though he is surrounded by family that love him and care for him, but he has made that job impossible.

Help!

Steve