Struggling to cope.

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Hi everyone,

I'm quite new to the website and new to this group: 

It's been just over two weeks since Mum passed away from Pancreatic Cancer / Bile Duct sepsis, She also suffered from a stroke the day before she passed!

I am so grateful that we managed to have her home and spend her final 3 weeks with her.

HOWEVER! I am really struggling to accept the fact she is gone, Never to have my lunchtime conversations with her, ask her advise, laugh, joke, sing, cry.

I feel so numb to the point I can't even cry anymore (is that wrong )  I know it 's been only 2 Weeks but I'm confused with the fact I don't really have any emotions, I just keep expecting her to walk through the door and open her arms to me!!!!  I'm also worried about extending my sick leave with work as I feel I may loose my job.

My work to be fair have been brilliant but I do have a very demanding job and I'm concerned if I extend my leave people will be able to fulfill my role and they may not need me anymore.

Help!!! 

  • I feel like I could have written this post myself. Everything you describe is exactly how I felt when my mum succumbed to cancer last summer, nine weeks after her diagnosis. 
    I just couldn’t manage anything other than existing day by day. I was so lost without her, so unsure of my reactions to her passing and unable to work effectively. 
    Like you, my work was very supportive, even though I wasn’t terribly effective. 
    I spoke to her every day for the last year of her life. Living two hours away, I couldn’t see her as often as I wished but those phone calls meant so much to me and I’m still a bit lost every evening at the time I’d usually call her. 
    I didn’t manage my grief very well and isolated myself from friends and family. I couldn’t speak about her and didn’t want to see people as I knew that’s what they’d want to talk about. I guess covid had its benefits as it allowed me to hide away. 
    Eventually, I found an outlet. For me, it was therapy. I needed someone completely separate from the situation. It’s made me realise that there’s no rule book on how to manage your grief. It is what it is. There’s nothing wrong with the way you’re feeling right now. You’ve literally just been through one of the most traumatising experiences any of us will ever go through. Your brain is trying to process that and it’ll take some time to get through it. 
    You won’t feel it at this stage but I think you’re doing ok in the circumstances. You’re reaching out and asking for help. You’re acknowledging your feelings and how they make you uncomfortable. That seems like a good thing to do. 

    I used to hate all the well-meaning snippets of advice you’d get. Time’s a healer and all that is unlikely to be particularly helpful right now. I’m 7 months into my grief and there are days where it’s still very painful. I do know though that I’m in a better place for having shared my thoughts with people who can help. I watched a movie the other day and there was one line that really struck a chord with me. It was something like “the grief at the loss never goes away but it won’t always feel so heavy”. 

    I am so sorry your mum is no longer around. It sucks.