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ARTICLE SUMMARY Tears streaming down her face, Leigh cried “I can’t take it anymore!” For four days she'd been like this and this statement shocked me. You see Leigh and I believe that the end of life is truly a beginning, and is truly a first step - or the last step to get to heaven. Little did I know the pain was causing her such great despair. As a care giver I can get help now:
Weeping and lashing out by our loved one are all common at the end of life. One thing I have learned as a care giver is there is a reason to continue the fight. The pain will get controlled, the despair will be overcome. When those two things are controlled, we are able to live the end of life as it is laid at our feet. For your future sake help your loved one live their remaining time to the best of their ability today., and turn to others in your need. How can I get help now? FULL ARTICLE Tears streaming down her face, Leigh cried “I can’t take it anymore!” For four days she'd been like this and this statement shocked me. You see Leigh and I believe that the end of life is truly a beginning, and is truly a first step - or the last step to get to heaven. As a family we are very tight, and we share everything, but little did I know how the pain was affecting her, little did I know that pain was causing such great despair. That she would even consider ending her life at this point. Find someone you can trust, that can share the burdens associated with end of life issues. We need help in dealing with end of life issues, and in other life crisis - we need to turn to someone we can talk to, someone we can share our feelings with and open up to Thankfully my wife and I have friends, people from church and people at work I can turn to. I have dealt with end of life issues for the past six years, caring for terminally ill people. And in dealing with end-of-life issues I had learned much, but was unprepared for my wife’s pain. Leigh’s journey began when she was diagnosed with IC or interstitial cystitis. Although not a life-threatening disease, the pain caused by this disease is life altering. Leigh is no stranger to pain, having gone through five C-sections for our 5 daughters. But when she was in tears for days it was then I realized how little I really knew about the suffering that comes with that much pain. Weeping, lashing out are all common at the end of life, when the news is so dreadful, when the pain is so severe, when the despair is so great that you don't want to go on, you don't want to continue the fight. One thing I have learned from this is that there is a reason to continue the fight - because there is today, there may be tomorrow and there may be a next day with others, with those you love. The pain will get controlled, the despair will be overcome. And when those two things are controlled, we are able to enjoy our life as it is laid at our feet at this moment. Whether we have days, weeks or months to live, no one really knows for sure. But what we need to do for our future sake is to live that remaining time to the best of our abilities today, and to turn to others in our need. |