to help reduce your distress the next time your loved one is distressed try to remain aware that people with dementia live only in the present that way you can end your suffering as quickly as your loved one does and then you can both move on to something more pleasant who suffers more alzheimers patients or their caregivers if you are a cancer patient you certainly dont expect to die from a blood clot you usually expect to die from the cancer itself why do cancer patients die from blood clots like a spider weaving a web our logical analytical predictive problemsolving mind continuously creates a story of our lives who we are what we are like what will happen to us and why as the story grows it can become impenetrable and selfsustaining the mental spider that claims to be us