My wife had Crohn's disease since a teenager, and was diagnosed with metastatic gallbladder cancer aged 52. A death sentence. She chose to do aggressive chemo to prolong her life from a few weeks to a few months. She suffered a great deal before she died.
An immunotherapy treatment was discussed, and it could possibly have helped a lot, but it carried a somewhat high risk of causing a disastrous Crohn's flare that would kill her immediately. The doctor was unwilling to try this because it might kill her. So she died inevitably without it.
It was a classic medical ethics case right there in our crisis. We did a lot of interesting and intense things in those months before she died. Fuck.
An immunotherapy treatment was discussed, and it could possibly have helped a lot, but it carried a somewhat high risk of causing a disastrous Crohn's flare that would kill her immediately. The doctor was unwilling to try this because it might kill her. So she died inevitably without it.
It was a classic medical ethics case right there in our crisis. We did a lot of interesting and intense things in those months before she died. Fuck.