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Living With Serious Illness |
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 Not
particularly interested in dying
People who are said to be dying often have a lot of living left to
do. There is no requirement that someone with a serious illness spend
all of his time thinking about how close he may be to death. While
some observers may think that this behavior is some kind of "denial,"
it is actually healthy to continue to focus on living. Feel free to
refuse to dwell on the nearness of death. You do not have to talk
about dying when you have better things to do. After all, most of
us have many roles to fill, dying or not. As husbands and wives, parents
and children, friends and colleagues, we work, play, love, and argue.
Your interests and concerns do not suddenly disappear because you
are ill. In fact, some issues may become much more important to get
resolved while you still can. Often you will appreciate ordinary daily
life and its stresses and troubles even more.
Patients with fatal illnesses may pursue medical treatments for a
variety of conditions. These conditions may or may not be related
to their fatal diseases. As one nurse noted, even hospice patients
are not particularly interested in dying early from a treatable problem.
Prolonging living can go hand-in-hand with accepting the inevitability
of dying. |
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Adapted from The
Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness,
by Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, copyright by Joanne Lynn, used by
permission of Oxford University Press.
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