hi. i just found this message board and everyone seems extremely supportive and caring so i thought id write in to see if anyone might have any suggestions regarding some of the problems my mother is having. my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer three years ago. the cancer has since spread to her pulmonary artery and into her lungs. her oncologist told us a couple weeks ago that her chemo treatments were at this point basically futile and that she was now faced with the question of whether or not she wished to continue ineffective treatments or stop poisoning herself so she could strive for quality in her final days. she chose the latter, and we have since gone on the road and ended up in her hometown in georgia where she had hoped to spend quality time with her family and loved ones. this has proved difficult, however, as her condition has worsened steadily and she now has major difficulty breathing, moving around, or even sustaining a conversation. we're trying to make her as comfortable as possible....she still hasnt really accepted the situation and is understandably reluctant/scared to called in hospice. i find myself at times trying to explain to her that hospice might be able to help in many ways that we cant, but i struggle with advocating bringing them in because i dont want to push her into the decision. she is having major difficulty with feeling satisfaction from her breathing, and the problem is especially acute when we move her to the bathroom, which we do using a wheel chair. she is receiving oxygen from a concentrator, at level 2 (3 during activity), and we are trying to keep the room she is in as well ventilated as possible, with multiple fans and air conditioning. she takes lorazepam (atavan) for stress, and wears morphine patches for pain/discomfort. i was just wondering if anyone on this board might be able to offer any suggestions on how to improve her comfort level in terms of her ability to breathe. after reading many of your messages, i find myself thinking that hospice might be the best option, to help us both medically and emotionally.....but my mother doenst want to accept this. i'm really torn because i dont want to take away the last shreds of control that she really has over her life by trying to influence her decision too much....but at the same time i really feel as though hospice could make her more commfortable and provide much needed help. any suggestions or thoughts are more than welcome. thanks very much..take care.

-justin

Dear Justin, My husband was in the same condition as you describe. I had his oxogen turned as high as it could go and he still struggled to breath at times. And yes, a few steps of walking made him worse in those last weeks.
Well, fineally, the Hospice nurse, ordered for him, some kind of breathing thing. I would put medication in one place and a little machine would put air passing over the liquid medication and he would breath it in. I am telling you.......I loved that thing. It would loosen up his air ways so much. It really was a great blessing!!! I only wished I had known about the thing ahead of time.....so that I could have "requested" it for him! You see , the nurses did not see all the times he was breathing so difficultly, for several days. Then when the nurse fineally said she could not hear ANY air passing through his lungs, that was when she ordered it.......and it came to our door, delivered within a couple hours!! That is the Power of Hospice!!
Sorry, I cannot remember the Name of the breathing machine...but get it!! You all have my prayers, I pray that she will let you get Hospice too. Tell her that you can cancell them anytime. I did when my husband got better for a few months. Later on we got them back. They are the best blessing for help that is available.......help......for the whole family.
hugs, Donna