Lung cancer will claim a staggering 157,000 Americans in 2010, according to the National Cancer Institute. Lung cancer remains a deadly disease partly because early in the disease, it often goes undetected. Lung cancer found in a late stage results in less of a chance for survival. Symptoms surrounding a patient's death occur due to organ failure and slowed metabolism.
Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath becomes commonplace for many lung cancer sufferers at the end of life, due to fluid in the lungs or tumor growth. These symptoms may require special management. "Medical Surgical Nursing" reports that in the final hours of life, breathing slows and becomes shallower. Often patients will experience periods when they stop breathing for several seconds. This condition is called apnea. As death nears, these periods of apnea increase in frequency and duration, and eventually breathing stops altogether.
Circulation Slows
As the body begins to shut down from lung cancer, the heart pumps blood less efficiently, and blood flow to the body decreases. As a result, skin of the hands and feet often becomes cool to the touch. The Hospice Foundation of America reports that as death approaches, skin color and nail beds change from pink to gray or blue. A blotchy pattern of bluish or purple discoloration, referred to as mottling, also commonly occurs in the hands and feet. Blood pressure slowly drops, and eventually no blood pressure is evident.
Altered Mental State
Slowed metabolism and blood flow also contribute to changes in cognition and wakefulness. The National Cancer Institute lists confusion, restlessness, withdrawal and increased sleeping as signs that death is near. Eventually the patient reaches a coma-like state.
Other Signs
Loss of appetite and the refusal of food and water become commonplace at the end of life. The body of the lung cancer patient does not require the same nutritional requirements of a healthy body. Muscles begin to relax, and bladder and bowel function often is lost. Urine becomes dark and concentrated because of lack of fluid intake and disease progression.
References
- "Medical Surgical Nursing"; Ignatavicius, D. MSN, Workman, L. PhD.; 2002
- National Cancer Institute: End of Life Questions and Answers
- Hospice Foundation of America: Signs of Approaching Death
- National Cancer Institute: Lung Cancer
