Things I wish I knew about dying to support my dad

For my dad's 70th birthday I flew to Adelaide to see him

He was moved into a palliative care unit the same day.

He’d had cancer for a long time but I still wasn’t ready for this.

On his second day in palliative care he started to lose his grip on this reality.

Normally sharp, witty and alert, he went into a dream-like state speaking of the past. His face went grey and gaunt.

I really felt like he was dying.

I panicked and asked for a doctor to do something to help him.

After some tests they finally gave him a saline drip which brought back his kidney function and…