At 4.40am yesterday morning (22/2/13), my husband took his final breath. I was with him until the end, and I know that he is in peace now. I spent some time today with the funeral director and walking around the crematorium finding a beautiful final resting place. Trying to get the eulogy and funeral details sorted, but I'm not in a good head pace right now. If you have a loved one who is going through this hell, make sure you have the tough conversations with them about what they want in regards to their funeral. It has made my life so much easier knowing I am doing exactly what he wanted. I hate that I have to do this, but he would have been happy with the arrangements so far. ... View more

My husband has a brain tumour and is currently in palliative care at our local hospital. He only has a few weeks left to live, and his doctor is going to reduce his dex to make the process a bit smoother. Has anyone had any side effects from reducing dex? He's looking at going fom 4mg to 2mg. ... View more

Marty had another fall in the early hours of this morning. He still tries to do things himself, but it usually ends up with him crashing to the floor (or this morning head butting the wall). I don't remember the last time I had a full night sleep....... He woke for breakfast, but has fallen asleep again. He probably won't wake again until lunch time now. This has become our routine. It's getting harder to pick him up when he falls, to the point where I have hurt my back, and my left shoulder and arm is in constant agony. ... View more

My husband (Marty) was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour on his brain stem on the 15th of May 2012. They were unable to biopsy it due to its location, but we were told it was aggressive and he would have less than 2 years to live. He started a 6 week (30 treatment) course of radiotherapy in June/July 2012, and had MRIs every 6 weeks to check the progress. Our oncologist put him on chemo tablets and he completed his first and only round in December 2012. He got so sick from it that he decided to cease all treatment and let nature run its course. We were put in touch with a palliative care team just before Christmas, and they did a home visit to check how he was doing. We are currently in regular contact with palliative care, and have the Blue Care nurses come out each Tuesday. Marty has lost feeling in the right side of his body. He cannot walk anywhere by himself as his balance is non-existent. He sleeps most of the day, and when he isn't asleep, he stares blankly at the TV. He has trouble getting his words out, and when he does, they are slurred. Over the past 2 months he has rapidly declined. I feel his time is coming to an end. ... View more

In May 2012, my husband was diagnosed with a brain stem tumour after having tests to find the cause of his constant hiccups. He completed 30 radiotherapy treatments over 6 weeks in June/July 2012, and had one dose of chemo in December 2012 (it made him too sick so he decided to stop treatment). I have been his full time carer from the start, and I can feel his time is coming to an end. He is sleeping a lot, and I have to walk him everywhere because his balance and leg muscles are virtually non-existent. He wants his suffering to be over, and I feel the same way. I feel so guilty for feeling that, but from what I understand its completely normal. It breaks my heart to see him suffering. He isn't in pain, but gets very frustrated that his body doesn't move as well as it used to. He has a lot of trouble concentrating and focussing, and his vision is starting to deteriorate. It is almost time for him to go into palliative care, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Scared because I know that his time is close, but relieved that I will have some extra help caring for him. Anyway, I am thankful for this site, as I have been on my own until now, and need to be able to talk to people who have walked in my shoes. Others just don't understand because they aren't in the same position. They can sympathize, but they don't understand. ... View more