On Friday, Bill's immediate family flew to Kansas City to attend his aunt Trish's funeral. Friday was her 51st birthday. She died of colon and bile duct cancer. Trish and some family members got together in July to see off her son before he was deployed to Iraq. She had one bought of sickness, but felt fine otherwise and had a wonderful visit. Between then and the end of October, she was hospitalized twice, diagnosed with two types of cancer and died.
As awful as this sounds, I think this might be one of the better ways to die. All of her loved ones came to see her, to have a chance to say goodbye before she died, and she didn't have to suffer long before she finally passed away. (I don't know how much pain she was suffering before she went to the doctor; I would have to think some.) With the help of the Red Cross, even her son was able to come back from Iraq, see her once last time, and then stay to take care of things afterward.
This made me wonder, and this may become a reccurring theme depending on how many people respond to it - which is worse, to lose a loved one instantly, or to sit by helplessly and watch them suffer for months or years before they pass? I think perhaps a week is just about the right time.
So here's my real question, if you were certain to die in one week, what would you do with the next seven days? You can respond here or email me at bacooper65@btinternet.com. With your permission, I'll post the responses.
I hope this isn't too macabre. It's something we all will face, but don't really like to think about.
