Today my mom woulda be 86

[Catherine]

Ruth I feel for your mother. Some breast cancers are very aggressive. All you can do is buy time. There is no cure.
Towards the end the morphine does seem to take control, but it does detach a person from their pain. It just makes the person seem like they are not there any more, but as you say, she had lucid moments. There is no easy way to die of cancer. The nurses and doctors do the best they can, but some things are still hard.  Your mother was a brave woman. You must really miss her.