End Stage Symptoms?

Thank you, Joseph, for your information; I don't know how to get to it through "messaging" so am answering here. I so appreciate your help but she doesn't go out at all anymore. Take care, ann

Thank you, Mike! We don't actually have a urologist or other doctors anymore - just hospice. I've asked hospice a couple times what it indicates and they keep just saying they're sorry but she's in the final stages. It's just that she's so cheerful and always says she's "just fine"! Even her nurses tell me that it's hard to tell with her because of her attitude so I appreciate your help.

She's on Oxycontin during the day which really keeps her kidney pain at bay and she has Vicodan for break-thru pain. They've tried to get her to take morphine but she doesn't want to.

One more question, if you don't mind. You mentioned the kidneys and I know that they keep saying her pain is coming from her kidneys; does that usually indicate that the cancer has spread there?

Thanks so much for your help; I feel like I'm asking really elementary questions but they're always lurking there in my mind!

with peace,
ann

So sorry for the situation.

Blood in the urine could mean many things. Actually, sometimes it is the first symptom that people see even when it is at a very, very early stage.

In the case of your mother, it sounds like it was extremely advanced before they even found it all.

Blood could be coming from the bladder lining, in which case it may not really mean anything. It could be from the kidneys, which could be worse.

My suggestion would be to ask her urologist the end stage questions. Likely, the pain will get worse and the need for pain meds increase.

Wish I had more to tell you. I think it may be somewhat different for everyone, depending on where the cancer has spread.

Mike

Hello and thank you for your help. My mother has bladder cancer; was diagnosed in February and had some surgery to remove what was in the bladder but it had already gone through the muscle wall and the urologist said it was a very aggressive form. We went to oncologists but, at her age and with the cancer having already gone through the wall and into the tissue, we didn't really have any options. Urologists gave her between two and four months to live. She's now at six months from diagnosis, starting to have more pain (lower back - kidney), and the hospice doctor just a week ago said she should start watching for blood in her urine. Three days ago her urine started becoming pink and red.

She is a very positive person, always smiling and cheerful and not a bit afraid of dying. She's up in a recliner every day writing on her laptop (she's a writer), and tries not to lie down during the day except to ease any pain that breaks through the pain meds.

I'm just trying to get a grasp on what I should expect symptom-wise. When the blood started in her urine this week, hospice seemed to take that as a sign that things were really progressing with her cancer but I don't know if this can last months more or what to expect. My mother is the most joyful person I know; she is in an assisted living with a hospice nurse coming in twice a week and my husband and I visit her daily.

Can someone help me with what to watch for? And, what does the blood in the urine mean at this point? Thank you so much for your help and for having this forum.