fdesalvo
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Over the last 6 years my mom has lost considerable weight. Her back is not permanently bent at a 40* angle and she weighs close to 65 lbs. They discovered innumerable polyps in her colon and lower intestines and a cancerous lump in her chest. Her lungs are in advanced stage COPD from decades of smoking, so she can't even withstand the anesthesia required to remove her colon and breast cancer. She's beyond the reach of surgical intervention and her light is rapidly dimming. She's now resigned to a hospice-issued bed in her favorite room of the house. I have a pic of her from 6 years ago and she looks so young. It's so hard to believe she is the same person.
My dad has survived two major bypass surgeries and is being severely affected by this. They've been married over 45 years and admits that they saved each other. He's an ex-cop who has never cried in public. He raised my sister and I to see things as black and white and to always do the right thing. I watched him carry his closest family's caskets to their hearses and final resting places without so much as a tear. My sister said that when my mom was recently admitted to the ER, she saw him weeping at her bedside, promising her that when she passes on, he will be right behind her.
I'm flying back home in about a week to spend about 2.5 weeks with my family. I need to make sure my mom is spiritually and emotionally prepared for what's coming and I'm wondering how prepared I am for what's over the horizon. I've been walking around with a lump in my throat and tightness in my chest, trying to prepare myself for the unimaginable. In some ways I'm glad that she's had time to slide; this gives us all time to prepare, but it doesn't make things feel better. I'm looking at a horrible chain of events in the near term and am struggling with processing it all.
I left home for LA after hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 to pursue music related opportunities, but in hindsight it's hard not to feel that I should've stayed. I'v found meaningful work out this way that I can't do back home and my sister, who's a RN lives across the street from my parents, so I know they aren't lonely.
Not sure where this post is going, but I just want to give respect to those of you who have suffered the loss of close family. I hope that you all are taking your health seriously and aren't ignoring warning signs. If my parents would have gone to have their symptoms looked at earlier on, they would both be in much greater condition.
My dad has survived two major bypass surgeries and is being severely affected by this. They've been married over 45 years and admits that they saved each other. He's an ex-cop who has never cried in public. He raised my sister and I to see things as black and white and to always do the right thing. I watched him carry his closest family's caskets to their hearses and final resting places without so much as a tear. My sister said that when my mom was recently admitted to the ER, she saw him weeping at her bedside, promising her that when she passes on, he will be right behind her.
I'm flying back home in about a week to spend about 2.5 weeks with my family. I need to make sure my mom is spiritually and emotionally prepared for what's coming and I'm wondering how prepared I am for what's over the horizon. I've been walking around with a lump in my throat and tightness in my chest, trying to prepare myself for the unimaginable. In some ways I'm glad that she's had time to slide; this gives us all time to prepare, but it doesn't make things feel better. I'm looking at a horrible chain of events in the near term and am struggling with processing it all.
I left home for LA after hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 to pursue music related opportunities, but in hindsight it's hard not to feel that I should've stayed. I'v found meaningful work out this way that I can't do back home and my sister, who's a RN lives across the street from my parents, so I know they aren't lonely.
Not sure where this post is going, but I just want to give respect to those of you who have suffered the loss of close family. I hope that you all are taking your health seriously and aren't ignoring warning signs. If my parents would have gone to have their symptoms looked at earlier on, they would both be in much greater condition.
