Many dying loved ones who come to fully accept they have an untreatable illness, which will cause their death, still find ways to maintain hope.

This can take the form of:

Hoping to live to see a particular event (like the upcoming birth of a family member),

Hoping to be released from the hospital or moved to another facility,

Hoping to achieve the resolution of a particular problem,

Hoping to find a cure for their illness,

…

Many physicians and families, after discussing and agreeing on the futility of future therapy, still continue to go ahead with therapy knowing the risks far outweigh any potential physical benefit. The argument is that the therapy is appropriate as long as it does not present a significant risk to the patient and is not associated with significant suffering.

Hope is maintained.

Sometimes family members choose to keep knowledge of the terminal nature of the disease from a loved one because they do not want their beloved to be aware of the life expectancy…they want to maintain hope.

I’ve known people who have died quickly after being given bad news from family and physicians but I’ve also seen people spurred on to “fight like hell” and outlive their life expectancy.

Would you want to know if you had a terminal illness? Or would you want your family to keep such information from you?

What if you had Alzheimer’s disease in your family (or another disease) and you could have a test to find out if you were likely to develop it as well, would you take the test?

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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