But by the end her sufferings were horrible, her abdomen badly burnt by the radiation treatment, the pain from her multiplying tumours far beyond the reach of morphine.

After a week of morphine use, its effectiveness decreases as patients build tolerance, and patients also experience negative side effects like addiction and constipation.

Morphine deadens pain by acting at nerve synapses, but it also activates glial cells, possibly worsening the drug's side effects, such as drowsiness, tolerance, worsening of pain, and addiction.