[azasadny]

Everyone wants a quick, painless death, but in reality, the pain can be managed but you usually don't die "all at once", death is a process and it can take a long time. Our friend's mother took several months to die, but she was actively dying for much longer than I had anticipated. I think part of the delay was due to the fact that her family was in denial. Once they acknowledged that she was leaving soon, she became much more peaceful and didn't complain of pain, she just smiled and held our hand and petted our dog.