Is This Normal?

Hi there, I have a friend who has stage IV breast cancer with bone mets. She lives alone and has in-home palliative care.

I'm not sure how bad the bone mets is. It's in her spine, pelvic area and upper legs. She tells me it's eaten away most of her hips and her most recent bone scan (two weeks ago) reveals that her one knee is also almost gone. However, she is still walking although she shuffles along and can do basic things for herself.

Is this movement normal with the little information I have provided? Also she doesn't have much energy and will cook herself a meal, but runs out of energy to clean it up. Is this normal?

I am asking because she only has nurses and home aide coming in every couple of days. On the days they don't come, the house is not kept clean and I'm afraid this is a health hazard. I need to know whether to get the nurses and home aide in every day?

Peaches without this information and seen the seriousness of her condition, I'd advise you to get in daily care anyway. This woman needs all the help she can get in order to live the last weeks of her life as comfortable as the situation permits. Hopefully she's being kept out of pain..
My heartfelt sympathy

Thanks for the advice. She's on a whole bunch of medication, one of which is morphine in pill form, she's been prescribed marijuana legally to help manage her pain and goes in for radiation for pain every 3 or 4 months.

Does this sound like her cancer is really advanced? She won't tell me how advanced it is partly because she's afraid of being told that she needs to go into the hospital for palliative care instead of staying at home and partly because I think she doesn't want to worry me?? I would like to know so I can stop by her house every day after work and help her with what needs to be done.

She seems to be eating normally, but that might be due to the pot, she is constipated though, and had to give herself an enema a few days ago.

spine, pelvic and upper legs bone meds are incurable. from what i heard of it - this stage is very painful as well. it's good she's under a pain-releave regime. still, this is superficial, and her condition requires total care. i know going into palliative care sounds like the last straw before 'going down' and people like to hold on to life, that's their nature - but I think to keep you in the dark of her real needs right now is misleading -

you should be on the alert and provide that she receives care 24/7 - if you care about her.

that's my personal opinion...

Thank you. I will speak to her doc and see if he can get her 24/7 care. She had radiation yesterday and they had to do it for 20 minutes which, apparently, is quite a long time.

alright, peaches - she has a good friend in you

Reading this post made me sad for you and your friend. I am so glad she has you. I know about the lack of energy and trying to hang on to life.As someone who is also dealing with this disease I know what is happening here. We try to be as normal as we can be but we are very much aware of what is happening in our bodies. God bless you.