My father is 59 years old and was diagnosed with 4th stage prostate cancer 2 years ago. He has over 40 tumors in his bones and after hormone treatment, radiation therapy and chemo, the tumors are still growing - causing extreme pain. At the moment he is taking ms contin, oxy contin, ordine, panadine forte etc. He has also had a stint on Ketamine to stabalise the pain. It%26#039;s only been a few weeks since his last visit to Cabrini Palliative Care and he is going back tomorrow as the morphine seems to not be working at all anymore. I know that there are other pain management strategies they can try but I have watched other relatives die from cancer… I am worried that the doctors are trying to give us hope where there might not be any. I am also concerned with how quickly he has become immune to the pain medication.|||So sorry for him, you and yours.

Just try to keep him comfortable and as unconscious as possible until the end, that is the most humane way.|||Keep hope. For a while, I was in the same condition he is in, only without all the pain killers (chemo and radiation not working), but the doctors tried a combination that worked. Good luck and for what it%26#039;s worth, I%26#039;ll pray for him.|||I think very highly of hospice care. At the end stage, hospice workers are more concerned with the comfort of the person instead of %26quot;treating the patient%26quot; like dr.s in the hospital are. I think they are also better trained in working with the family to make sure everyone is taken care of. I cannot say enough nice things about hospice care either in home or inpatient.|||With 40 tumors that are still growing, your father may very well be in the end stage of cancer. It may be time to contact a Hospice. Hospice is when the patient has about 6 months or less left to live. The priority of Hospice is pain management and keeping the patient comfortable, and they come to your house. In my brother%26#039;s last 2-3 months of life, his pain pills stopped working and doctors couldn%26#039;t increase them high enough, so he had to switch to injections and I.V. He was on Dilaudid and Demoral because the morphine stopped helping.|||If you don%26#039;t have hospice get it now. And if they cannot control the pain, then he probably needs to be in the hospital where they can do stronger pain meds. It sounds as if your father is dying. He needs to be made comfortable. Get your supports from family and friends. Someone needs to be the advocate for your father in getting better pain relief.