It is almost impossible to answer but I think you knew that.
Men don't die of prostate cancer, they die as a result of the treatment or symptoms / side effects. For example, men like your F-I-L who have lost their mobility are at hugely increased risk of infections, particularly pneumonia which can happen out of the blue and be very swift. Some men, particularly those with bone mets, need ever-increasing levels of pain relief until they are so dosed up with morphine that they slip into unconsciousness and then coma and die peacefully. Some, like my father-in-law, have a very sudden decline as a result of the cancer spreading to organs such as the kidneys or liver and die quickly of organ failure (just over 24 hours from well to dead in our case) - or develop severe lymphodema and eventually die of heart failure. Mets to the brain or lungs obviously bring other issues. Some just lose their appetite and tart to fade away, they may also stop drinking; dehydration is the body's way of producing a natural pain relief.
I think your F-I-L has been on the palliative care pathway for quite a long time now - has he regained any mobility at all? Are the hospice nurses still supporting you? They are often the ones with the best instinct about how close a patient is to the end.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|