Hospice care

[Liz1968]

I am taking care of someone with pancreatic cancer..it has also spread to the brain. This person still drinks fluids..not as much though..and insists on eati ng cookies. For 2 days meals consisted of cookies.

Today..she is like Bing eating..

Here for 2 days hardly touching anything..now eating everything and fast.. I am glad yo see her eat however. p

She has been in bed 2 wks and unable to walk..her urine is tea colored and she has a smell to her I began noticing yesterday..

Has anyone ever seen a terminally ill patient just start binge eating?

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

I saw it multiple times. One guy, who was in HD for years before deciding to stop it and let nature take its course ate three supersized meals a day from the worst fast food joints I knew. The first thing he asked for once everything was signed was family size bucket of KFC chicken with all trimmings, and he ate it all with a bottle of Buffalo and washed it down with original Coke.

The party did not continue for long, unfortunately, but it was quite a thing to see. The poor man truly and fully enjoyed everything he was deprived of for years!

[nursephillyphil, BSN, RN]

Its called "the last supper". Typically they tend to have a significant increase in appetite prior to impending death. From my experience at least.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

The same thing happened with my husband, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2016. He'd been going steadily downhill for a couple of weeks, and then the day before he passed he ate just about everything in sight! Bacon and sausage and eggs and pancakes...and he cooked it all himself and even did the dishes afterwards. He also noshed on potato chips and drank several Cokes. It was the calm before the storm, and I think we both knew it, but at the time it just seemed good that he'd regained his appetite and was enjoying things.