Member-only story
MWC Death
My Mother Passed Away and I’m OK With It
Am I a bad person for feeling more relief than pain?
After multiple cancer surgeries, medical procedures, and my brother Eddie's death, my mother passed in her sleep at the age of 83. The final five years of her life were full of chemotherapy, grief, and steady decline.
Quality of Life became less and less. As my mother’s situation worsened, she required more and more attention. Meanwhile, my father, the primary caretaker at the ripe age of 86, did all he could to bring peace and comfort.
Just as these scripts unfold, so did my parents’ version. As Mom worsened and her attention more immediate, my father grew overwhelmed and rundown.
Mom stopped eating solid foods, as hospice provided a hospital sleeper— the proverbial death bed. A few days later, my dad called me and it wasn’t good. Or was it?
In 1996, my mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Surgery was performed to remove her kidney. Fortunately, the surgery was a success. The bonus was that my mom wouldn’t require dialysis.
Reduced to one kidney, the downside of the surgery was that doctors projected a 15–17 year lifespan at the most. 25 years later, here we are.
