Cancer Diary: Why the Complaint "I'm Cold" from a Cancer Patient Should Be Taken Seriously

Carl frequently complained of being cold during the last two months of living/dying with cancer. Even with the heat at, for me an uncomfortable, 72 degrees (when we typically maintain it at a comfortable 66 degrees). Even when wearing a sweater or even something heavier and smothered in blankets. He was always complaining about being cold, and only after he died did I find out why -- and that he really was very cold because body temperature drops when someone is dying.

We were constantly struggling over how to compromise on temperature. My son and I were extremely uncomfortable with the amount of heat Carl would set the thermostat for, as well as having concerns with the cost of the amount of gas needed to keep the house so hot (dying can create immense financial stress -- a topic Cancer Diary will address in the future). 

In general, cold registered for me, having grown up in Maine and having spent a few winters in Siberia, pictured above, on a very different scale from the perception of cold by Carl, who had only once spent just a little time in a. truly cold place on a business trip he and I took to Fairbanks, Alaska in the middle of the winter. 

No matter what the temperature, though, he would still be cold and beg for more heat. It was only after he died that I realized that he did need more heat that I had realized and that this change in perception of temperature and actual change in body temperature is a sign of dying.

Sometimes, a dying person does not express feeling cold but does feel cold to the touch or even clammy. Sometimes parts of the person’s body become blotchy and even darker than natural. Carl did not feel cold to the touch, though; he felt cold inside.

Apparently, as part of the dying process, blood circulation slows. Experts suggest: "If the person indicates that they feel cold, use light bedding to keep them warm. Too many bed clothes or an electric blanket may make them hot and restless. Provide good ventilation; a fan to circulate the air and cool damp towels can help if the person seems hot."

How I wish I had stumbled across these experts while Carl was still alive, and we were trying to cope with competing needs for heat! Learning this after Carl died added to my basket of remorse. That basket prompted the development of Carl's Cancer Compendium so that others could learn about it earlier, before their loved one dies, and not have to depend upon stumbling across information that can help. It also prompted this Cancer Diary blog. 

Caveat: Each person dies in unique ways. Cancer Diary explores both individual experiences and ones that are considered by medical professionals to be generic ones. CD makes no claims as to how any individual patient will react or what caregivers should do. Rather, CD provides personal examples and then points to websites where experienced and trained medical personnel can provide guidance for those who find the particular topic presented helpful.

For more posts on signs of dying, click HERE.

For more posts on financial stress, click HERE.

For more posts from Cancer Diary, click HERE.

For other posts on cancer, click HERE.

Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press LLC is now hosting a web page, Carl's Cancer Compendium, as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expand into robustness; updates and additional information are added every week. 

As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story or sharing of some experienced aspect of cancer, "Cancer Diary," which will also be open to guest posts.