Hi Kat Your mum should not have to endure any pain. It is quite possible to eliminate all pain, a driver is often used to deliver either a regular dose of pain killer at short intervals or a self admimistered dose as needed, sometimes a sedative is added as well. On your mums behalf inform the healthcare team just how much she is suffering, and demand forcefully that she gets the treatment neccessary. I went through this with the doctors while my father was in the last few weeks of kidney cancer. Some healthcare providers seem to have a puritanical outlook that some pain should be endured, or they are concerned of addiction to morphine / diamorphine. If you have weeks to live it really isn't an issue. My father used to teach medicine and would ask students the question, how much painkiller would they give to a particular cancer patient, each would reply say 2.5mg 4.0mg etc. Then he would admonish all of them as giving the wrong answer. The correct answer he would tell them is "enough" (to make them pain free). I hope you are able to persuade the doctors to give your mum that releif so she is comfortable. Kim