What's normal?

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Hi. I care for my husband who has incurable oesophageal and liver cancer. When he was having palliative chemo, I was quite positive we would expand his life a few more months or maybe 1 or 2 years. I had the usual sadness, anger, I felt cheated etc. Sadly chemo just made him more poorly and didn't work. My feelings and thoughts changed.

It's really hard to write, as I feel so guilty from the thoughts I have. I'll try to explain.

Some days I think, 'why us and I love you so much I can't live without you'.

Some days I think 'I'm fed up waiting, when are you going to die'. And worse than that I think 'until you die, I can't plan any future'. And one more thing, I can't complain about a bad hip, or any pain or getting old, I'm 55, because I have the luxury of getting old.

It's so awful because half of me means it, well I think I mean it.

In my mind I do plan a future, I've started getting organised like a spring clean. I look at moving house. I've started thinking about the funeral arrangements and so on.

Is this normal? I feel such a cow. I love him so much, he's my rock and my heart. 

Does anyone get what I am saying?

  • I'm such a twit! I replied to you but sent it to someone else, hoping i deleted in time. This is what I sent...

    That sounds like a rough time for both of you. Getting good medical care is pot luck. We've been lucky that way. Everyone has been excellent. Although now we only see Weldmar once a week, who are fab. But until he needs a driver we'll not see anyone, there's no point. I have the district nurses hot line and loads of meds here. I am hoping to care for him at home until the end, fingers crossed. I have experience in meds and caring so I don't put up with any crap. And someone being too rough is not acceptable. I used to give people ski mittens and say now move them gently, they soon learned. See, evil streak. Anyway, making soup, so off I go to p.m routine xx

  • I get it. I wish I didn't, but I do. I don't know if it's normal, but I do know I feel and think similar things. The word 'normal' left my vocabulary a while ago. I wish you and all of us here the strength to endure.

  • I get it, I totally understand what you are saying. I am crying angry tears, angry at myself for being angry at him. Angry at our circumstances which have left us between houses in rented accommodation just as his condition has worsened. Angry that my car has been scrapped and we can only get out by taxi, even for a loaf of bread. Angry that I have a condition that makes walking difficult and I don’t have time for treatment. Angry that he sits and sits and sits and I have to do everything. Angry that the morphine has rendered him incapable of intelligent conversation.

     I thought that I was a compassionate person, but right now I have the angry heat of a thousand suns. And I hate feeling that way. I hate being like this.

    I have tried counselling but the ‘on a scale of one to ten’ questions just made me so angry. I gave up.