The Heroine Choosing to give up the fight against a terminal illness is a challenging decision for a person with a strong faith in God.
The family of an eighty year old grandmother received a call while on vacation that she had been admitted to the hospital. The woman’s family packed up their RV and headed back to Amarillo, Texas where she was hospitalized. The immediate family gathered in the hospital room and waited for the diagnosis. The doctor informed the elderly lady and her family that she had multiple myeloma and her kidneys were failing and she would need immediate dialysis. This woman was healthy prior to this hospitalization. She was very active, took few medications and was always busy helping others from her church and community.
After hearing the news, the daughter-in-law leaned over the sick woman’s bed and said, “I’m not done with you yet.” The woman replied, “I’m not done with you yet either!” Her plan of care was discussed with the physician and the fight began.
The lady everyone loved and cherished would have to travel from Perryton, Texas to Amarillo, Texas three days a week for dialysis. This would involve a four hour round trip car ride and dialysis treatment lasting approximately four to five hours. This would continue until a spot became available at a dialysis center closer to her home in Perryton. In between these dialysis days would be many trips to Amarillo for appointments with the oncologist for chemotherapy treatments.
The lady and her family were educated on multiple myeloma. The prognosis at best is a three to five year life expectancy. It was at this point that the heroine of this story began to question her life on this earth and what would the God she so strongly believed in would want from her. She would come to question if continuing to fight for more time here on this earth was really worth what she was having to go through.
Her daughter-in-law was not working at this time and was able to commit to take her on the trips to Amarillo. Plans were made by our heroine’s children to provide around the clock care in her home so she could remain in her own home during this time. A special diet is essential to dialysis patients and was prepared for her by her family. Her finances were taken over by her middle daughter. This loss of independence was not easy for our heroine to give up.
She fought for three years. She attended the funeral of her oldest grandson who died at the young age of twenty-six. In a wheelchair, she attended the Eagle ceremony and high school graduation of another grandson. She had a lot of good times with her family during the last three years.
Recalling a conversation this lady had with her daughter-in-law who was in school to