Life, Death.... and Your Thoughts on Everything in Between.....

[DarkSkies]

Death or serious illness has visited many of us here, and in our circle of friends and family recently....
Monty and I were talking about this the other day....we are all getting older, hence it may seem to us more common, or happening more frequently.....

Recent events with the deterioration in health, and subsequent passing, of Pebbles Dad, has caused me to look at some things differently....

[DarkSkies]

A lot of my life is related to fishing....sometimes too much....as it can become an addiction......
Though not exactly fishing related, I thought this thread, can also relate to us, the fishing we do, and the things we do when we're not working or with family......sometimes our hobbies, fishing, etc, are all we have to provide us some semblance of sanity in this crazy, unfair world we live in.....

There is a Bill W thread where we already talk about things like this.....I see that although that thread is popular, the general theme is alcohol, and how mis-use of alcohol or drugs has affected our friends and family, in life.......
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ou-Know-Bill-W









I thought, in the broadest general terms, that this thread could be about anything else in life........

- Our Life and Death as we see it, our existence on this Earth....
- Our Faith, or Search for things or people/Concepts to believe in to help us get through tough times...
- Dealing with Parents or Family members/Friends who get older, and how we get through it....
- Our Concept of Life, and why it's important to get all out of life that we can......

[DarkSkies]

Recent events have caused me to see that life can turn around on any of us, in an instant....
and the realization that the life we take for Granted, for ourselves and others, can be permanently derailed, with one small turn down the road.....causing us immense pain and suffering, as we or others we know reach the final steps of their journey on this Earth........

[DarkSkies]

So what do we do with it...or the feelings that occur within us?

IMO a lot of us hide or avoid the feelings we are experiencing...thinking they will go away if we ignore them.....
this thread could be a place to talk about feelings of loss, impending loss, feelings of regret......or just a rant on the unfairness of it all....

It could be positive, or negative, depending on how things are going for you that day....the direction it takes, is up to you folks...
Beyond all that, I am wishing it can provide some hope and comfort, to those of us who are suffering, along with those in our lives, who are suffering......

**And help us all to see, more clearly, that life is a meal that needs to be savored, one bite at a time....but also as if it is your last meal.....
Tomorrow is never guaranteed, all we have is today........






Would be interested in hearing what others think......
and thoughts and prayers to all of us in the world, who now have parents, friends, or family who are suffering through an illness.....

[ledhead36]

The only certain things in life are death and taxes.
Live each day like it's your last.
2 things I try to go by, everything else is gravy. My Aunt passed away from cancer last year. It's hard to watch. It also got me a little angry how they try to keep folks alive even when there is no real quality of life. All about racking the bills up for some of them drs. When its time to die you should get some dignity. I respected what Dr Kevorkian did. Too bad they put him in jail

[jigfreak]

My Aunt passed away from cancer last year. It's hard to watch. It also got me a little angry how they try to keep folks alive even when there is no real quality of life. All about racking the bills up for some of them drs. When its time to die you should get some dignity. I respected what Dr Kevorkian did. Too bad they put him in jail

Sorry to hear that dude I feel the same way. Nowadays with medicare and the cuts there are many. They do not cut too much when it comes to keeping an old person alive so that person could have up to 1 mill of bills and still die anyway. jmo but its all about feathering the pockets. There is a certain point when it doesn't make sense to keep someone alive. Im all for dying with dignity instead of dying with drool running out your mouth.

[Monty]

Time heals.
From my experiences, the sense of loss never leaves, but the good memories and experiences eventually balance out the sense of loss to some extent.

[DarkSkies]

Live each day like it's your last.
2 things I try to go by, everything else is gravy. My Aunt passed away from cancer last year. It's hard to watch. It also got me a little angry how they try to keep folks alive even when there is no real quality of life. All about racking the bills up for some of them drs. When its time to die you should get some dignity.

Good philisophy, you never know when it might be your last.....My deepest sympathies, led.

There is a certain point when it doesn't make sense to keep someone alive. Im all for dying with dignity instead of dying with drool running out your mouth.

Well said, jigfreak.
I agree with this as well. One of the Doctors took Pebbles aside, and said:
"You know, with the modern technology we have, we can keep someone alive virtually forever. The question you and your family members want to ask yourselves is what is the quality of life at that point, and if your loved one would have wanted to keep living if that were the case."

This was pretty impressive to me. We have learned a lot about the medical field advances and compassionate health care in the time he was sick. Pebbles Dr took her into a private room, and had tears coming down her face as she explained it to her. They now have specialists who deal in compassionate care...it's amazing for me to see this level of empathy from our Doctors, who throughout my childhood and young adulthood had been somewhat stoic and seemed void of emotion, in the clinical sense.

This shift in health care (maybe not in all places) was a breath of fresh air, and very re-assuring to us.
It helped us to be in a position to make informed choices, and to help him die with dignity, which was his wish.




A quick plug for Overlook Hospital in Summit, one of the most advanced stroke/neurological units in the state. We felt that at all times, her Dad's care was the best it could be. Every night when we left the hospital, they told us they would call us immediately if his condition changed so we could drive up and be with him if he got worse. They also called every morning at 7am (shift change) to let us know how the night went, and any changes in condition.

Additionally, they have a Caregivers Center, the only one in the state as of now, which is a few rooms, privacy spaces, kitchenette, and sufficient seating so that families who are going through this, can stop in, grab a cup of coffee, snack, hot chocolate, or a quick nap, as they deal with family members going through end of life ups and downs....we felt this was fantastic, and cannot say enough good words about the Overlook Health Care system.