[Margaret Pilkington]

I think when a diagnosis of terminal illness is made, the patient and the relatives should be consulted as to what stage of the illness intervention should be continued.

I too, watched my father die of Lung cancer.....he never asked about his illness.....he was not told he was dying, but he knew he was. It was very hard for him to handle, and he withdrew from life and all that should make life worth living. He suffered physically, only in the last 48 hours......but from diagnosis to death he mentally was crucified. There is NO treatment for this sort of mental pain......physical pain can be helped by Morphine...... but mental pain is torture......for both the patient and the relatives. To have talked to him about death would have hurt him even more. I am 13 years on from this event and still I find it difficult to deal with. Doctors and Nurses do their best in these circumstances, but there is no easy answer. I don't think my father would have opted to die......I think he feared death. And I could not have made that decision to end his life.....but having said that I was glad when he did die. Even though I know that this was the only outcome, and he was relieved of the effort of breathing......I feel guilty about it.
I have also watched other people die like that, and it is heartbreaking to watch.