When will this all end?
My father passed away in June of 2004. My mother had end-stage multiple sclerosis, and was completely paralyzed. Two months after my father’s death we found out that my mother also had uterine cancer. She wasn’t a good candidate for surgery or radiation because of her already weaked state. Either anethesia or radiation could kill her. Fortunately, the cancer was very slow growing.
In March 2007 my mother passed away from pneumonia; her weakened state from MS had made her vulnerable to it. It was only about a month after that we found out that the reason why my husband occasionally coughs up blood is a previously undiagnosed birth defect; an abnormal artery from his heart to his lung. He had surgery in July, but the surgery did not do everything that the doctors were hoping. In December he got pneumonia, and also started coughing up blood again. He went to the doctor again yesterday, and it was discovered that his blood pressure was dangerously high. His doctor wants him to go to a heart surgeon again.
And me? I feel more alone now then I have in my whole life. I know with dealing with my mother all these years, that if someone you love has chronic illness, you really need someone else to lean on, too. When Mom was so sick, I always had Arnold to lean on. But who do I have to lean on now?
