My mother in law is in last stages of pancreatic cancer and they have stopped the insulin injections today.please can i have some advice on how to cope and what to expect
Thank you for posting a question. I am one of the nurses and our moderator wondered if we might be able to help I am very sorry to learn about your mother in law’s situation. This must be a difficult time for you and your family.
Unfortunately I don’t think that I can provide you with a great deal of reliable information as I am not directly involved in your mother in law’s situation and do not know the full details of her health. But the following general information may be of some use.
It is relatively common for medical teams to ‘relax’ diabetic care when someone is nearing the end of life. This is to avoid the need for excessive blood glucose monitoring and the distress of injections or excessive tablet taking. But if there are any signs that the diabetes is causing problems, the palliative care team usually will intervene and give medication . However occasionally this is not warranted if the distress of the treatment is likely to cause more harm than benefits. The palliative care team will have experience in this sort of medical problem.
Sometimes if someone is not completely dependent on insulin it can be stopped or reduced without causing too many problems This is because the person is usually eating less towards the last few weeks of life.
People often ask us about coping and there is not really an easy answer to this. It helps to have a supportive network around you through this difficult time. Talking to close friends and family about what’s going on may well help you cope and you may receive some support here on Cancer Chat. Although they are unable to take away the worry of the situation, just by talking about things can be a comfort.
There is some general information about caring for someone with advanced cancer on the Macmillan Cancer Support website and you can view it here.
Not all of the information will be relevant, but I hope that it is of some help. Do get back to us directly if you have any other questions. If you would like to telephone our Freephone number is 0808 800 4040. We are here from Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am to 5pm.
