Welcome to Cancer Chat Sarah although I'm sorry that your nanny is entering her final stages.

We have some information on our website which I hope will help answer your questions and give you and your family time to prepare but if you'd like to discuss this with someone then do give our cancer nurses a call. They're available on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

I'm sure some of our members will share their experiences with you soon as well.

Thinking of you all at this difficult time.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Yes, the death rattle can start when someone is still very alert and awake.  The sound itself is haunting to the surrounding caregivers and family members.  This is the body struggeling to eliminate natural secretions that we typically do by swallowing, coughing or clearing the throat.  This is more than likely the start of the body begining to shut down.

Timelines are tough and individual - unfortunately there is no crystal ball.  For my husband, it was approximately 4 days and he was alter the majority of the time.   Instead of attempting to get him to swallow, I would have him spit into a tissue and/or suction it out.  I literally bought a suction typically used on babies at the pharmacy - but it did the trick.

I am very sorry for your experience... but when I was going through this myself and asked a question... I received alot of warm wishes and support but very few answers... so I thought I would actually answer based on my experiences in same

good luck to you.

thank you, we are waiting on the doctors to do their rounds, the nurse said she will ask them to have a listen to her lungs to see what it is and get back to us.  the fact she is so alert happy and chatty is confusing and mentally tough because were told one thing about "2 short weeks" and yet she is still so strong?  she has no appetite for a couple of weeks but picks at food to keep everyone happy, but we know she no longer needs anything.  I think the not knowing how long is also very draining because we are in panic mode every time the phone rings and we love her so much its killing us.  but thank you all for your responses.  so good to hear other peoples experiences.