Hi, my husband has terminal prostate cancer. He was given about 6 months to live in November and has declined rapidly. We have no kids or extended family (I am from USA so my close support system is mostly there). It’s mostly just me taking care of him — while it is heartbreaking and exhausting, I also consider it a privilege. But as his disease has progressed, he is growing more and more distant. I know part of that is the letting go process but it feels like I have lost him already. I’ve tried to get him to talk to a therapist or counsellor but he says he doesn’t need it. He takes a lot of his frustrations out on me, and most of the time I can handle it and not take it personally. But it is getting worse as his disease progresses. I feel like nothing I do is right and he seems so irritated and angry with me all the time. I feel so awful that I can’t help him as I know he is in physical and emotional pain and turmoil but he refuses to talk with me or anyone else. He feels so distant and I fear that this is all that is left for us. He doesn’t seem to even like much less love me anymore. I miss him so much already and I am so afraid of having regrets about how we end things between us. I don’t have many people to talk with and confide in myself, which is a problem, I know. I just feel so awful about that’s happening to him and it’s breaking my heart that not only do we have to go through this, it’s ending on such a sour and unresolved note. Does anyone have any advice or insight — is this a normal part of the dying process? Should I just tolerate his attitude or challenge it? I don’t know how to best help him and it’s so distressing. Thank you
