My grandmother was sick with cancer all through my childhood. Our parents were always honest with us, but we very rarely actually saw her at her sickest. I think that's more because the relationship between my father & his parents was never a great one.

When she was in her final days, dad's brother took his 8yo DS in to see Grandma. Honestly, by that point the family wasn't impressed. Dad also advised me not to see her even though I was 19. She had no idea who anyone was & they didn't want us remembering her like that. I appreciate that.

But as she was battling cancer on & off for 17 years, there's no way to avoid us seeing her sick. It was our lives. That's all we knew of her. Sometimes she had hair, sometimes she wore a wig, sometimes a beanie with nothing under it. I don't think there was any acting out for us, because 1, we weren't that close... not as close as my kids are to my parents & 2, that was life for us. That's how we knew her.

Its possible that the acting out is her being worried about what's going on. All you can do is let her know that its ok to be worried & scared. But I certainly wouldn't stop your DD spending time with her. Especially if you're not sure just how much more time she'll get with her.