‘Looking back, hospice, quality of life’

Lorena Harris of Independence, Missouri, watched her mother die of cancer without any treatment.

“My mom died of cancer in June 2014. She never went to the doctor. A week before she died, we took her to hospice to die. She suspected she had cancer but hid it and chose not to treat it. We saw it affect her and eventually lead to her death. Her quality of life was great until only about a month before she died.

“I noticed the lump through my mom's shirt 3 years or so before she died. It concerned me when I noticed it, but she told me not to worry about it. I knew worrying would not help anything, and I knew her desires to avoid treatment. She started losing weight due to cancer about 2–3 years before she died. The hardest part emotionally was not being able to help her.   For the last year of her life, she could not eat/swallow very many foods. This was upsetting to watch.

“My mom made sure we all knew she did not want medical attention for her cancer. Her last week of life, she was in pain and asked to go to the hospital. Not for treatment, but for pain management. We decided to put her in hospice care. She lived less than a week here. I knew not having chemotherapy was important to my mom. We have seen many suffer through it, often to just end up dying. My mom chose to live her life to the fullest, spending time with her kids, grandkids, and being active at her church. I agree with her decision, and looking at both sides, would now make the same decision myself.” 

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Lorena’s six words to describe her cancer experience are “Looking back, hospice, quality of life.” Share your six words here.

Lorena’s words, which were shared digitally through Tell KC, have been lightly edited for clarity.

As part of a local reporting project around the upcoming Ken Burns documentary series, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, KCPT presents Cancer in KC.

We want to learn more about how cancer affects our community. How has cancer impacted your life? Share your story.

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