coming up to what will be the 5th anniversary of my surgery on May 16th 2016. From the initial diagnosis in March/April 2016, it was a pretty traumatic period - I was primary Carer for my disabled husband and once the need for surgery was confirmed it was a mad rush to get him into a care home. Initially we thought 6 weeks, but when the stage 2 cancer was confirmed after the surgery with the need for chemo and RT things went from bad to worse. Four months after he went into care (and just after my 5th of 6 cycles of chemo) he died in his sleep. So while, fingers crossed!!! i should be signed off by the oncology clinic next month - the gynae signed me off in november - I have mixed feelings about this year. The various medical teams were great in 2016 but it was hard being on my own when nearly everyone else had a partner, family member or friend with them - and it was also the year we should have been celebrating our 'significant' '0' birthdays - me 60 him 70 . The chemo hit me hard and i could only get to visit my husband 2 or three times between each chemo cycle. My second chemo was on my 60th birthday and i was just about well enough to celebrate our wedding anniversay with him two weeks later - the care home laid on a special spread for us to have a meal together. He died 2 days after I'd had my 5th dose of chemo. Thankfully i wasn't put under any pressure to make the funeral arrangements as there had to be an autopsy, and the funeral was deferred by about 5 weeks until I'd had, and recovered from my final chemo. However, although the last year under covid restrictions, has been hard it could have been so much worse if I'd still been a Carer.
Hi Mscarer,
I do know where you are coming from. My mum died quite a time ago, and my Dad was the one looking after her. I lived a few hundred miles away with two young children to look after. Although I was very upset when she eventually died, it was a relief. And my Dad was absolutely exhausted. It took him a few months to recover. You were in a tricky situation, and you did the best you possibly could. Wishing you well, and congratulations on reaching 5 years!! xxx
Hi MSCARER. Congratulations on your 5th Anniversary. I'm sorry to read about the loss of your husband whilst you were undergoing treatment the sense of loss must be doubly hard as you were his carer as well.
I spent the day after my Ruby Anniversary having a hysteroscopy under GA (epidural) . Due to Covid I had to drive myself the 1.5 hour journey to the hospital for a 7am check-in. My best friend then drove my husband to collect me back in my car later that evening. All my scans, tests, consultations were on my own. I heard I had cancer on my own. Didn't get a lot of support from hubby, he thought I was a bit of a drama queen!
Hubby's right hip needs replacing (As a result of the long drive to the hospital where I had my TLH) and subsequent collection a few days later. I'm becoming his carer in many ways and it's hard when you've fallen out of love with someone. Next Tuesday is my 68th birthday and I'm at a point in my life where I wonder do I want to stay married to him but do I have the courage to walk away and start again!
Sending you hugs, Barb xx
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thanks nannyanny and Mrs BJH.
PIGLET - borrowed from 'Selfish Pig's Guide to Caring' - was my 2nd hubby but i had a similar situation to you with No 1 - we had no children, part of the problem, but I 'bit the bullet' after 11 years and walked away which in reality was 7 years too long. And obviously i was only in my early 30's, so maybe that made it easier?. But a good friend at the time told me 'don't live your life for other people live it for yourself'. If i hadn't walked away i wouldn't have met Piglet. One possible irony is that it may? have been stress from caring for piglet that triggered the cancer. He'd been very ill in 2013/2014 and I nearly lost him - sepsis, but he pulled through somehow, but we had a long - 10 months - hard struggle to get him home but by 2016 he'd had enough. He'd made a living will in 2014 specifying certain criteria for DNR that he'd already passed then, but it was never needed as he went in his sleep just as he would have wanted. Lesley
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