A friend of mine is currently living her worst nightmare. Yesterday, it was confirmed that she has pancreatic cancer and may have as little as three months to live.
My first reaction was to grab my calendar to see what I was doing three months ago. It seemed like yesterday.
I feel so sad for her.
Knowing your fate can be both a blessing and a curse. Some people can quickly advance through the five stages of death, reach out to long lost loved ones, take the trip of a lifetime and end their days with humor and peace surrounded by family. Other people feel despair until their final breath.
The pressure to be the former must be overwhelming.
None of us know how we would react when confronted with our own mortality. My friend has no idea how she will behave in the weeks to come. My only hope is that she will find a sense of calm but I can completely understand if her every waking moment is filled with fear and dread.
I made her laugh when I visited her in the hospital last week. I may never make her laugh again.
All I know, is that when she's gone, I will remember her by how she behaved in life, not in death.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Sorry to hear this now all to common story is coming to your friends life, and by extension, yours.
I just had a High School friend pass away. Mom told me he was told he had 3-6 months, 3days later he died in his sleep. He was 40.
Cancer sucks.
Glad he didn't suffer. He wasn't hurting from it but was weak.
I've heard similar stories where a person is given a few months to live yet dies a few days later. I wonder why? Is the diagnosis optimistic or does the brain and then the body just give up.
Cancer does suck. Anything that takes a person away in the prime of life sucks. I'm only two years away from being the same age as my mother was when she died. Only now do I fully realize just how young she was at the time of her death.
Oh well, I'm drinking and blogging. I should probably stop before I go on and on and on.
Then you'd have to go to:
On and On Anon
I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
My thoughts are with her...
Post a Comment