Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Not the Beginning, Not the End

There are times when the flow of life doesn't act like a river. Instead, that creative juice seems to shoot straight up like a geyser, only to evaporate. Or the waters seep underground, spreading under the earth's crust to form a renewable resource that can be life-sustaining. This blog is late coming into my project, but it arrives as a progeny of the latter resource...that underground resource that sustains my passion to write.

The picture shown here is of my mother, Joanne, when she graduated from high school in 1951. My mother was diagnosed in March 2013 with Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer. She died on June 6, 2014, at home. My father and I were with her.

I'm writing this blog to keep my friends, family, and supporters updated on my progress with the book I'm writing about my experiences as my mother's caregiver. I was her primary caregiver, although we used home health care and hospice, too. My mother didn't want me to take on that role for a number of reasons; but, at some point during the end of her life, she realized she didn't have a choice. Neither did I.

Now, I'm ready to finish that book, which is all about facing some harsh realities. What do you do when you realize there's no hope? What do you do when your loved one isn't a "cancer warrior" or a survivor? I plan to offer my experiences in some slim hope that what I endured can help you survive as a family member of a dying loved one. You can survive, even if your loved one doesn't.

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