So, here it is
Well, You would likely know what has been going on with me, but I thought I would put the whole story on here, then if any of you have missed any of it, you are all caught up, that and I dont update very often, so I may as well make it a long one.
Well, Work life, I recently started working as a Caretaker at a place for country cancer patients in Perth undergoing treatment to stay.
No, that does not mean I am a carer, CARETAKER, basically I am someone to be here at night that works here. I lock up at the appropriate time, and turn on the alarm for the other building and just answer questions for guests if they have any. Other than that I watch DVDs or TV and sleep. Yes, I am getting paid to sleep. It isnt the best pay in the world but I only work Monday to Thursday nights. And most of the work consists of sleeping. Occassionally I get woken up to open the door or just answer the phone, but I have long perfected the roll over and go back to sleep technique, so that doesnt bother me. Often I talk to the guests (as i am supposed to do) but being a naturally conversational person, i like that too. I just have to be mindful of where i let the conversation go. that is, I reccomend against asking a cancer patient how they are. Occassionally you get one who will tell you, and it isnt nescisarily good.
So yes, work is good.
As you would have likely known, I lived at home with Mum and she had a terminal Asbestos induced Lung Cancer. Over the past few months she had been going down in her condition as the cancer spread, and treatment became ineffective. Things were going slowly down hill. Then mum hurt her back somehow. It was causing her a lot of pain and one morning she was in a lot of pain and having trouble breathing so I called an ambulance and she went into hospital. She was int here for 8 days and things were pretty dicy for the first 4 days. She was on a oxygen mask that is very tight and creates a seal. Mum hated that mask (called a Bi-Pap Machine, it is designed to properly inflate and deflate the lungs and reduce the CO2 level in the blood.) It worked and she came home.
She was home for about 4 days before she started to go down again. On the Monday the hospice doctor was due to visit us at home. Mum was having a really bad day when the doctor got there in the morning. The Silver Chain Nurse also arrived while the doctor was there. Mum continued to go rapidly downhill and the Doctor could tell that this was likely to be near the end. We (Me and my siblings)had to make a decision about whether to take her to hospital again, or to a hospice facility or to keep her at home and let it run its course.
Difficult decision considering a fortnight ago the hospital treatment worked.
What ended up making the decision for me is that a fortnight ago Mum was distressed and gasping for air even. This time she was just getting sleepy and non reponsice, no distress, no pain. And she really hated the mask they would put her on in hospital anyways, thats if it would even work again. We dicided to keep her home where she was comfortable.I am really glad we did.
We then made lots of phone calls. We had a heap of the immediate family and friends come through and see Mum from then(about 4pm) onwards. Most people got to see mum and she was just there enough to know that most people were there, and acknowledge most people that she knew they were there which is nice for them.
Most people had left by about Midnight and Mum's breathing slowed down and slowed down until she finally stopped at about 130am and died. It was very peaceful with no pain and I was there. I may not have been in the room for the final breath, but for the last couple.
I rang my pregnant sister who we had sent home a while earlier and my brothers who had gone home to their kids. My sister and eldest brother came back. We had some time with Mum and then i called the Funeral Director to come and get her. They arrived within half an hour and were really very great about it all.
So this was early Tuesday morning and we organised to have the funeral the following Wednesday so that my eldest brothers kids could be there. (They live with their mother in Canberra and were due to come down and stay with their Dad for a week of the school holidays from the next tuesday). The funeral came around very quickly.
The funerla was very nice. Mum had organised the majority of the funeral and wake herself before as she knew it was coming for two years and wanted as little burden on her kids as possible. She organised to have the funeral at Peaceful Cremation Services in Maddington because it was a nice place, the price was reasonable and it had a large enough parlor to fit in everyone (well, much bigger than the others). The people there were really great, and I highly reccomend them.
Mum was wrong about everyone fitting in the place, the funeral Directors stopped counting at 130, i predict there were about 150 or 160 people there. Half in the actual room, and the other half out in the foyer.
I had a lot of friends come to support me that knew mum very little, or a lot. And I really appreciate it (Thanks Kristal).
Mum organised to have the wake at the tavern around the corner from the funeral. She knew most people didn't like to stay around the funeral parlour very long, and most wont go back to the family home (plus that is a burden on the family) so she organised for the wake to be there and paid for soft drink and food and tea/coffee. A large ammount of people went there.
And then, it was all over. A strange sense of relief after all this time.
Now, i am back at work, and during the day sorting out the house and the rest of my life from here. I guess it is not really over, just part of it.
Life has to go on, and that is what Mum wanted, now I have to try and do so.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
Gary
Well, Work life, I recently started working as a Caretaker at a place for country cancer patients in Perth undergoing treatment to stay.
No, that does not mean I am a carer, CARETAKER, basically I am someone to be here at night that works here. I lock up at the appropriate time, and turn on the alarm for the other building and just answer questions for guests if they have any. Other than that I watch DVDs or TV and sleep. Yes, I am getting paid to sleep. It isnt the best pay in the world but I only work Monday to Thursday nights. And most of the work consists of sleeping. Occassionally I get woken up to open the door or just answer the phone, but I have long perfected the roll over and go back to sleep technique, so that doesnt bother me. Often I talk to the guests (as i am supposed to do) but being a naturally conversational person, i like that too. I just have to be mindful of where i let the conversation go. that is, I reccomend against asking a cancer patient how they are. Occassionally you get one who will tell you, and it isnt nescisarily good.
So yes, work is good.
As you would have likely known, I lived at home with Mum and she had a terminal Asbestos induced Lung Cancer. Over the past few months she had been going down in her condition as the cancer spread, and treatment became ineffective. Things were going slowly down hill. Then mum hurt her back somehow. It was causing her a lot of pain and one morning she was in a lot of pain and having trouble breathing so I called an ambulance and she went into hospital. She was int here for 8 days and things were pretty dicy for the first 4 days. She was on a oxygen mask that is very tight and creates a seal. Mum hated that mask (called a Bi-Pap Machine, it is designed to properly inflate and deflate the lungs and reduce the CO2 level in the blood.) It worked and she came home.
She was home for about 4 days before she started to go down again. On the Monday the hospice doctor was due to visit us at home. Mum was having a really bad day when the doctor got there in the morning. The Silver Chain Nurse also arrived while the doctor was there. Mum continued to go rapidly downhill and the Doctor could tell that this was likely to be near the end. We (Me and my siblings)had to make a decision about whether to take her to hospital again, or to a hospice facility or to keep her at home and let it run its course.
Difficult decision considering a fortnight ago the hospital treatment worked.
What ended up making the decision for me is that a fortnight ago Mum was distressed and gasping for air even. This time she was just getting sleepy and non reponsice, no distress, no pain. And she really hated the mask they would put her on in hospital anyways, thats if it would even work again. We dicided to keep her home where she was comfortable.I am really glad we did.
We then made lots of phone calls. We had a heap of the immediate family and friends come through and see Mum from then(about 4pm) onwards. Most people got to see mum and she was just there enough to know that most people were there, and acknowledge most people that she knew they were there which is nice for them.
Most people had left by about Midnight and Mum's breathing slowed down and slowed down until she finally stopped at about 130am and died. It was very peaceful with no pain and I was there. I may not have been in the room for the final breath, but for the last couple.
I rang my pregnant sister who we had sent home a while earlier and my brothers who had gone home to their kids. My sister and eldest brother came back. We had some time with Mum and then i called the Funeral Director to come and get her. They arrived within half an hour and were really very great about it all.
So this was early Tuesday morning and we organised to have the funeral the following Wednesday so that my eldest brothers kids could be there. (They live with their mother in Canberra and were due to come down and stay with their Dad for a week of the school holidays from the next tuesday). The funeral came around very quickly.
The funerla was very nice. Mum had organised the majority of the funeral and wake herself before as she knew it was coming for two years and wanted as little burden on her kids as possible. She organised to have the funeral at Peaceful Cremation Services in Maddington because it was a nice place, the price was reasonable and it had a large enough parlor to fit in everyone (well, much bigger than the others). The people there were really great, and I highly reccomend them.
Mum was wrong about everyone fitting in the place, the funeral Directors stopped counting at 130, i predict there were about 150 or 160 people there. Half in the actual room, and the other half out in the foyer.
I had a lot of friends come to support me that knew mum very little, or a lot. And I really appreciate it (Thanks Kristal).
Mum organised to have the wake at the tavern around the corner from the funeral. She knew most people didn't like to stay around the funeral parlour very long, and most wont go back to the family home (plus that is a burden on the family) so she organised for the wake to be there and paid for soft drink and food and tea/coffee. A large ammount of people went there.
And then, it was all over. A strange sense of relief after all this time.
Now, i am back at work, and during the day sorting out the house and the rest of my life from here. I guess it is not really over, just part of it.
Life has to go on, and that is what Mum wanted, now I have to try and do so.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
Gary